“Boko Haram has shrunk”: Catholic Bishop in Cameroon Corroborates Message of Nigerian Visionary Bishop

In the ACN report, the Cameroonian member of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (SAC) is quoted as saying that in his Diocese, two Parishes which lie directly on the border, Mutskar and Nguetchewe, “are especially suffering.”

“There are two attacks per month, because the terrorists are hungry,” he says, and continues, “At night, most of the population along the border doesn’t sleep at home. Some people even sleep under trees. Most of the time, the army is there to protect the population, but the partisans of Boko Haram in Cameroon tell Boko Haram in Nigeria when the soldiers are not there.”

“The people are afraid,” the Local Ordinary of Maroua-Mokolo says, and adds, “When I go and visit the parishes I am accompanied by soldiers. I call them my ‘guardian angels.’”

In the report published on January 9, ACN, which researches on Christian persecution around the world confirms that Boko Haram, especially in Nigeria where its activities were most rampant, is not as lethal as it was a decade ago.

“At the height of its power, in 2014, Boko Haram controlled about 20,000 square miles of northern Nigeria, but successful military campaigns have seen the group lose most of the territory it formerly held,” the Pontifical charity foundation says.

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“Boko Haram has shrunk”: Catholic Bishop in Cameroon Corroborates Message of Nigerian Visionary Bishop

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In April 2014, Bishop Doeme is said to have received a vision in which Jesus appeared at the right side of the altar in his chapel, where he was praying the Holy Rosary for the Chibok schoolgirls, who had been kidnapped by the Islamist militant group.

The Nigerian Catholic Bishop saw Jesus offering him a sword, which turned into a Rosary when he took it. Three times, before the vision ended, Jesus said to him, “Boko Haram is gone”, he has testified in a video recording. 

The member of the Clergy of Nigeria’s Shendam Catholic Diocese, who had been ordained a Priest for the country’s Jos Catholic Archdiocese told ACN he was “totally shaken” by the experience and kept quiet about it for a year.

Even though he did not talk about his vision, Bishop Doeme promoted renewed devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and praying the Holy Rosary throughout his Nigerian Episcopal See.

In the report ACN published on January 9, Bishop Ateba says that it is not weapons, which will defeat Boko Haram, but education and hope.

The Cameroonian SAC Bishop also explains the importance of translating the Bible into the local language Mafa, describing the translation as a powerful tool to strengthen the faith of a majority Christian tribe.

Asked what he thought the next steps in fighting Boko Haram and assuring a better future for Cameroon would be, he says, “It’s not weapons which will solve the problem of Boko Haram. The first thing is formation and work. If young people have prospects, it will be difficult for Boko Haram to recruit new members and brainwash them.”

Asked how Christians live their faith in the majorly Muslim Northern Cameroon, Bishop Ateba says, “In the city of Maroua, where I live, there are two million inhabitants, of whom 95 percent are Muslim and 5 percent are Christian. The Muslims control everything: trade, transport, and politics. We try to provide a witness.”

“The Muslims respect us because of our works,” the 60-year-old Catholic Bishop says, and explains, “When you take care of the poor and children on the street, you don’t ask whether the person is Muslim or Christian. We are all children of the same Father.”

Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.