Three United Methodists recalled the violence in the Munga Dosso area of Nigeria on Dec. 15 that led to the deaths of a young man and two children.
The names of the United Methodists who were interviewed are being withheld for their safety. These transcripts have been edited for clarity.
First eyewitness: ‘We need your support’
It was on Sunday, 15th December. I went to my worship place. I saw my members are in bad shape. I asked them the reason. They told me that the GMC (Global Methodist Church) at Munga Dosso No. 1 (the local United Methodist Church No. 1) are going to open the church that authorities closed last some weeks ago. I pleaded with them to be patient. I’d find a solution to resolve that issue.
So at the last, I went to the authorities, went to soldiers. I reported to them. We came together with them, but they failed to do something reasonable.
After the GMC members finished their worship … I asked my members to go to their place of worship. When we went to our place of worship, the reaction, the riot … extended to UMCN No. 3. At UMCN No. 3, something happened. They killed one of our members. They burned many houses.
After that, in the night at 3 o’clock, they came back to burn people’s houses. In one round hut that they set fire on killed two children, so that’s what I know. …
We plead to our partners to our sister churches to help people in The United Methodist Church in Nigeria.
Our … last bishop want to tell the world that there’s not something like the UMCN in Nigeria, but we have members, over thousands, in Nigeria that are UMC, so we want people to know … all he is doing to stop our church progressing. So we need your prayer. We need your support. We need all you can do to support our churches to grow up in Jesus’ name.
[Interviewer: How many houses were burned?]
Many houses are burned on fire. At least 18 houses are burned on fire.
Second eyewitness: ‘Our life is in danger’
Early in the morning on Sunday, around 7 to 6 o’clock, we marched ourselves into the church premises. We were trying to pray in the normal place where we are always in our service.
Then we heard the rumors of something [about] the confusion that had arisen in our former UMC No. 1, which the GMC are claiming to be their church. So already the government has declared the church closed. And the members of the GMC tried to open the church, while the UMC members raised the alarm against it because the government ordered the church closed.
Then it is there the confusion started. They started beating some members of the United Methodist Church. …
Most of our members now are in danger because in that very moment we’re trying to cool the situation and … some [people with] guns, we don’t know who [they are], they come with the guns and start shooting us, and it is where one of my younger brothers has been shot dead now today. …
Now we are calling on The United Methodist Church to help the United Methodist church in Munga Dosso because they are in a bad situation now. Many houses were burned. … Now nobody will lay his head down to sleep in a proper way. … Our life is in danger, and even the security personnel are taking sides in the issue. …
So now we are crying. We don’t have somebody that will help … us in this situation. So we need our government to intervene in this issue, and the international bodies, too, should intervene in this situation. If not, our life is in danger.
We are facing a lot in The United Methodist Church … [since] we decide to stay with our normal church. So we pray that whatever, there is a beginning and there is an end, and we want you to help us in prayer, help us financially because most of our members now – some – are always in the bush. We don’t know where to sleep. … Pray for us and help us. … Pray in order to calm the situation. Thank you.
Third eyewitness: ‘My two children … were burned’
I’m the father to the two children who were attacked and burned with fire on Sunday around 4:30 a.m.
[The] incident started from UMCN No. 1 in Munga Dosso. Then after, they were trying to control the situation, and still the situation did not calm. Then after all this, they came to UMCN No. 3 – that is my residence at Bunkabu in Munga Dosso. They came and started shooting guns all over, so … we [were] trying to control this situation – really the situation [was] about to calm on that very time. It was around 4 o’clock in the morning time, so these people they still came back and attacked our side – that is, where I’m living with these my two children that were burned. So they attacked us and burned these two children in the fire.
So all that I’m trying to say is that we need a prayer so that God will bring the peace into this very community because we are facing [a] very serious problem. … So all our effort is to make sure that if you people can help us in order to control all this situation, we are expecting you to make your efforts that will control this situation that we are facing in this very community.
Even now as I’m talking, we don’t know when this problem is going to end up. We are always facing a lot of things, especially around evening to early morning time. …
So therefore, if there is any assistance that you can render for this community, we want … you to kindly consider our complaint and do what you can do in order to bring peace into this our community.
