In only a decade, Burkina Faso has become an epicentre of jihadist violence, with over 40% of the country’s territory outside of government control. The Catholic Church is one of the few institutions that provides material and spiritual support in this situation. Two Burkinabe priests from one of the dioceses that has been hardest hit by the jihadists over the past years shared their terrible experiences and first-hand testimony of the violence with ACN.
“The situation is dire,” said Fr Bertin Namboho and Fr Jean-Pierre Keita, respectively the bursar of the Diocese of Nouna and parish priest of the village of Tansila, on the border with Mali, during a recent press conference organised by international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
“We live in constant terror, and everyone knows somebody who has been kidnapped or murdered. The terrorists in Burkina Faso are as dangerous as Boko Haram was in Nigeria. When you leave in the morning, you can’t be sure you will be alive by evening,” said Fr Bertin, who explained that he has been stopped three times by terrorists on the road and that one of his uncles was murdered last year.
Fr Jean-Pierre was kidnapped by terrorists less than one month after the murder of his younger brother in May 2023. “They held me for a few hours at gunpoint and questioned me. They don’t give you time to think, to ensure that you are not lying. I told them that I was a priest and that I would rather die than lie. After a while they let me go, but even if you only spend 10 minutes in their hands it still leaves a deep mark,” Fr Jean-Pierre explained.
When the terrorists took him into the woods, they searched his briefcase, which contained an alb, a stole, a chalice, his breviary and other priestly items. Every time they questioned him about these objects, he explained what they were, and took the opportunity to speak about their spiritual significance and value. “It is possible to bear witness, even if it means they might slit your throat. It is a true miracle,” he says. The Burkinabe priest is convinced that they spared his life “because I showed them that I was close to God”.
Tansila, the parish on the border with Mali to which he was transferred in 2022, had already been attacked by jihadists. It was completely cut off from the rest of the world, in terms of communications, and the police station had been burned down, among other things. So, when he was transferred there everybody feared for him, and told him that “you will have your throat cut”. “But my greatest concern at that time was: How can I provide pastoral care in such a complicated region?” the priest recalled.
A total of eight attacks have taken place in the area of Fr Jean-Pierre’s parish in the past five months alone. Recently, on 15 April, the community of Tansila was surprised by the arrival of 200 jihadists who ordered everyone to leave the town by 19:00. “We didn’t have time to collect our things, and since we had been without electricity for two years, we had no money in the bank, everything was in our houses. The terrorists looted everything. There are several images that I will probably never forget: the jihadists broke into the hospital and removed the patients’ IV tubes, including from a baby who I was about to baptise. They removed his tubes, and he died. As a pastor of souls, going through a situation like this just makes your heart bleed,” the priest explains.
The army was only able to reach Tansila two days later, because the terrorists had mined the only road that leads to it. “Over those two days, the terrorists remained in the presbytery, they sacked it and destroyed it, they ransacked the church, the altar and the tabernacle.”
“When I saw all of this I burst into tears, and I understood the suffering of the people of Israel when the Temple was destroyed. You get the feeling of having lost your religious identity, your dignity. And in the midst of this we ask ourselves: Where is our God?”
Since the attack, soldiers have remained in Tansila to protect the inhabitants who returned, but that has not stopped the terrorists from attacking other communities in Fr Jean-Pierre’s parish. On 15 December, they killed around 20 people in Balavé, 30 km from Tansila. “Being the pastor of a parish that has suffered such a terrible attack is horrible. When I am with these Christians, I act strong, to encourage them, but when I am alone, I cry. It is very difficult.” On Christmas Eve, the inhabitants of six villages in the parish were forced out of their homes. “That was a very dark Christmas. They did the usual, they looted everything and what they didn’t need, they burned, to starve the people.”
During the press conference, Fr Bertin said that Nouna was occupied by extremists between 2022 and 2024, so there was no electricity, among other things. Being the bursar of the diocese, he had to leave town every once and a while to deal with the bank in Dedougou, and several times he was intercepted by the extremists. “Getting pulled over by five or six terrorists with guns is frightening. They asked me several questions, and what I did. You can never tell what they will do if they discover you are a priest, but I could not lie.” Fortunately, he was allowed to carry on.
The priest explained how on 25 December the city of Nouna and three local parishes were attacked. “The civilian population always suffers with terrorist attacks. But when they vandalise churches and parish houses, and they don’t let you ring the bells for mass, you have to ask yourself what the motivation behind their actions is.”
The schools in the vicinity of Nouna have been closed for over two years, and Fr Jean-Pierre is pessimistic about school beginning this year. “In my parish the terrorists burned down the schools of two communities, where the army is not present, to prevent the children from going to school.” Furthermore, Fr Bertin explained that many children cannot afford to pay for the few schools that are still open, due to the poverty and hunger caused by the terrorism.
Even though the future looks bleak – the priests both say that the number of terrorists is not diminishing – the Burkinabe remain very close to God and vocations are flourishing. “Even though it is dangerous to gather to pray, people continue to meet and live their faith. We had two new priests ordained in the diocese in June,” Fr Bertin said. Fr Jean-Pierre agreed, saying: “We have hope, because amidst all the attacks, people have kept their faith. We believe in a better future, in a world at peace. We believe in the Prince of Peace.”
And he adds: “We are grateful to all the people who have been moved by this desperate situation we are experiencing, and who are helping us however they can. Thank you ACN, because you do not only help us with material goods, but also with prayer. It is very important to know that we are not alone. And to all those involved with terrorism in Burkina Faso, we say: ‘We are all brothers in this land!’ Every day we pray for the victims, for the conversion of our own hearts, and for the conversion of our aggressors.”