Asking the people of Maiduguri Diocese to forgive Boko Haram

Nigeria’s Bishop of Maiduguri, Oliver Dashe Doeme, has made a much longed-for pastoral visit to parts of his diocese hosting returnee refugees and internally displaced persons just returned to their communities. The refugees and Internally displaced have been able to return to their homes following the flushing out of Boko Haram by the Nigerian, Chadian and Cameroonian armed forces. They return to charred and ghost homes that were once thriving villages and towns. There is no guarantee that Boko Haram will not return but there is no place better than home, so the people have returned.

Visiting his diocese, Bishop Dashe Doeme is making what he has termed “a consolation tour” to some communities that have been recaptured from Boko Haram.

Maiduguri Diocese’s Director of social communications, Fr. Gideon Obasogie, who was on the “a consolation tour” entourage with the Bishop reports that the Bishop visited communities of Kala'a, Bahuli, Mishara, Betso, Muchalla, and Mubi. Most of these areas are situated in Mubi north and the south of Adamawa state as well as Uba in Borno state.

The visibly moved Bishop Dashe Doeme together with his priests encouraged the returnees in various Masses of Reconciliation and Reparation to forge ahead without hate. The Bishop told the people to remain steadfast in spite of the calamity that they have been through.  He told the people to learn to forgive as Christ himself present in the Most Holy Sacrament had already forgiven the radical elements for their crimes of sacrilege, profanation and hate. The priests and the Bishop were in the confessional for over three hours in some communities visited.

In one of his homilies, Bishop Dashe Doeme encouraged the people, just returning home, after months of exile, to remain steadfast in their faith.  He charged them not to allow themselves to be misled with the idea of vengeance.  He said he understood the normal instinct of revenge but told the various parishioners that at times such as these revenge was not the answer no matter how much aggrieved the people felt.

Wherever he went, Bishop Dashe Doeme constantly encouraged the people to remember the core values of their Christian faith. He told them to forgive the enemy including those who had persecuted them.

The damage to lives and Church property in Mubi and surrounding communities is enormous and heart breaking. Everything has been reduced to rubble. Many people returning have lost family members. Others are still too afraid to return; some parents are yet to reconnect with lost children, wives, husbands and relatives. The majority of those returning are from Cameroon where they had sought refuge from the menace of Boko Haram. Everyone has returned to destroyed homes, looted Churches and burnt crops and fields. Everybody is starting afresh.

The community of Mishara in Uba local government area was particularly moved to see their Bishop so soon upon returning. Although, the security in the community is still  tense and with many restrictions, the people are eager to restart their lives. Many said that the Rosary kept them going in their darkest days of despair.

(By Fr. Gideon Obasogie in Maiduguri)

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