Mafa after an attack by Boko Haram in 2014. This new attack took the lives of hundreds of civilians.
This past week has brought heartbreaking news from Nigeria and Ukraine, as violent conflict continues to rock civilian populations in both countries.
On September 1, approximately 150 militants belonging to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP, a Boko Haram splinter group) attacked the village of Mafa in Yobe State in northeastern Nigeria. Riding motorcycles and armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, they killed as many as 170 people and burned the village to the ground, although our sources on the ground say the number may be over 300.
Witnesses who survived the attack described the attackers surrounding the village in three groups, making escape nearly impossible for many of the village residents. Military response was delayed by hours due to poor mobile phone connectivity in the area.
This followed the recent return of internally displaced people (IDPs) to the village after they were evacuated in July due to ongoing regional violence. Yobe police spokesperson Dungus Abdulkarim said that the attack appears to have been in retaliation for the killing of two ISWAP members by local vigilantes.
In the past 15 years, thousands of Nigerians have been killed by violent extremists, and some 2 million have been internally displaced, due largely to ongoing extremist violence in the northeast region of the country.
While the attack on Mafa did not directly affect ChildVoice staff members or students, such violence sends ripples of terror in IDP communities throughout northeastern Nigeria, reigniting past fears and traumas. Young people, already dealing with the loss of homes, families, and any sense of security, are especially vulnerable.
Meanwhile, on the same day in Ukraine, approximately 40 civilians were wounded when Russia bombed several residential areas in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city. This followed an earlier missile attack on the city, which struck a residential building, killing 12 civilians and wounding 59 more. Ukraine now has approximately 3.7 million IDPs due to the ongoing war with Russia.
Thankfully, our mission partners in Ukraine were not directly affected by the most recent bombings. Nevertheless, the adolescents they work with become increasingly traumatized with each new attack.
It would be wonderful to live in a world where our work is no longer needed. But the sad fact is, more children and adolescents than ever before need help to recover from the traumatizing effects of violent conflict and exploitation. Please keep those who have been so tragically affected by the ongoing violence in Nigeria, Sudan, DRC, Myanmar, Ukraine, Gaza, and other regions across the globe in your prayers. Pray for the day to come when swords are once and for all beaten into plowshares.
You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. (Isaiah 25:4)