By Zakariya Musa
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) commemorated Oct. 29, the day Boko Haram overran Mubi and Hong communities of Adamawa State in 2014. The entire community had fled to different areas within and outside the country of Nigeria. All church denominations in the area that are under the CAN umbrella gathered at the Mararaba Local Church Council of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN) for prayer, worship, speeches, and testimonies.
The CAN secretary for the Mararaba zone, Timothy Jatau, spoke at the occasion saying that all the Christians fled through thorns, bush, streams, and various difficult ways. God has sustained us, he said, in the various places where we found refuge, and the same God brought us back to Mararaba community.
Also speaking at the event, the chairman of CAN’s Mararaba zone, Ibrahim Biriya, said the day will not be forgotten and that it has become history for generations to come. He prayed not to experience such again.
Pastor of EYN LCC Mararaba, Jacob Yohanna, read from Deuteronomy 16:13-17 and 21:18. He admonished that God has done something in our lives and so the day is worth commemorating. He challenged Christians to be conscious of the way they live their lives to the glory of God.
As the area considered it God’s miracle that brought them back to their communities, many other areas are still facing attacks. Lives and properties are still being lost, houses are being burned, and people are fleeing their ancestral communities. Recently, 3 people were killed, 38 houses were burned, and properties were lost at Kidlindla, attacked last month, October 2019. Another village, Bagajau, also was attacked, 2 people were killed, and 19 houses were burned by Boko Haram, as reported by church officials.
— Zakariya Musa works in communications for Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria).