Niamey, 20 May, 2021 / 2:51 pm (ACI Africa).
Last week’s attack on a village in the Tillaberi region within Niger’s Archdiocese of Niamey that led to the fleeing of Christians from the region is a blow to a local church that is considered “fragile”, a Missionary Cleric ministering in the affected areas has said.
On May 13, during the feast of Eid al-Fitr, gunmen reportedly stormed the village of Fantio in an attack that left at least five people dead.
In a Tuesday, May 18 report, Fr. Mauro Armanino who ministers in the affected region says the May 13 attack that targeted Dolbel Parish, “the first Catholic community in the country,” is “a blow to the heart of the fragile Church of the Archdiocese of Niamey.”
“After the attacks, on the day of the conclusion of the Ramadan feast, in the village of Fantio, the fear of other attacks against the Christian community, has led people to flee from the villages and take refuge in the capital Niamey,” Fr. Armanino recounts in the Agenzia Fides report.
The member of the Society of African Missions (SMA) further says, “The number of Catholics who have fled the area is about a hundred.”
