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Cameroon: ‘They were ages 3 to 18’ — 7 young Christians killed by Boko Haram suicide bomber

August 13, 2020

Persecution of Christians in Cameroon: About 70% of Cameroon’s population is Christian. Orthodox Christianity is a recent presence there, arriving in the country in 1951. Greek merchants at that time immigrated to Cameroon and established Orthodox churches. In the 1980s, Holy Orthodoxy began spreading to the native population, under the auspices of the Church of Alexandria. The Archdiocese of Cameroon was established in 1959 and is under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Alexandria.

Now the Christians of Cameroon are facing persecution and many Christians have fled their homes, as we see in this article. Attacks against Christians are now a regular occurrence.

Please pray that Almighty God would restore peace to Cameroon and provide for a flourishing of Orthodoxy there.

For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in Cameroon, see here.

“‘They were ages 3 to 18’—7 young Christians killed by Boko Haram suicide bomber,” by Lindy Lowry, Open Doors USA, August 12, 2020:

The scene was horrific. While the residents of the village of Nguetchewe in Cameroon’s far north region slept, Boko Haram militants attacked their community at approximately 11 pm on Saturday, Aug. 1—sending in two suicide bombers, one of whom was a young girl.

By the time she and another bomber had detonated the explosives they wore, more than 28 lives were lost, including a reported seven young Christians between the ages of 3 and 18. The attack continued into the next morning, forcing some 1,500 people to flee to the nearby town of Mozogo for safety.

Reportedly, the Nguetchewe Catholic Mission was Boko Haram’s target. In a phone call, a church leader in Nguetchewe told Open Doors: “I was at home when they came. We heard gunshots and then shouts from the vigilante committee alerting us. So we fled … When they got in, they first fired shots (randomly), and then people started running.”

Some of the women and children gathered to hide in the area where millet is beaten, the church leader said. That’s when the young girl came into the area saying her stomach hurt. The group let her in, completely unaware she was carrying a bomb.

“They were duped,” the church leader said. “She detonated the bomb and killed many people. It seems another suicide bomber targeted another group of people.”

At least seven of the victims were Christians. “We got reports that one other member who was injured and was taken to hospital has passed away, but I am still to confirm,” the church leader said. “For now, it’s clear that all in this group of victims were between the ages of 3 and 18, and included both boys and girls.”

Further details about the bombers, including their origins, are unknown though reports in recent years indicate that Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of children….