A trauma care centre is being constructed in northern Nigeria to support Christians who have suffered religiously motivated violence or abuse at the hands of Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen, it was announced in late November.
The centre is being built by Open Doors International, a charity which supports Christians under pressure for their faith. In April, the charity took a group of UK-based church leaders to visit the parents of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls and Christians in internally displaced people (IDP) camps – in Yola in the north-eastern state of Adamawa, and Jos in the central state of Plateau.
On a hit list
During the trip, the group met with Isaac (name changed), a church leader who survived a Boko Haram attack. Isaac said he learnt that his name was on a Boko Haram list on Christmas Day 2015. A few days later, the Islamists moved from house to house, killing everyone they encountered, but Isaac and his family escaped unharmed. When his 500-strong church was due to meet again a few days later, Isaac, his wife and the caretaker were the only ones there.
