It seems like some new drama happens every few weeks. I spent Christmas with friends in Ivory Coast where I visited the beach and tried my absolute, foolish best to drown in the Atlantic Ocean. I swam out too far, but a divine wave came along and pushed me back to shore without harm or incident.
On January 17, violent riots swept through Niamey, the capital of Niger. Many European and a few American news agencies featured stories concerning these events. So, you may have heard some rumblings from Niger or maybe not. Originally, I had wanted to write this update as soon as possible in order to keep you informed. Then, information exploded across the internet, the situation on the ground continued to evolve, and difficult reality gave rise to fearful rumors. So, I waited. I apologize if some of you felt as if I had left you in the dark.
January 17th was a Saturday, and I was on my way to visit an orphanage around 10:30 AM. The day before had seen riots in a town called Zinder, but Zinder is 530 miles east of Niamey. Disturbances are not uncommon in distance towns, so I didn’t think much about it. Violent protests were (and still are) extremely rare in Niamey. I stopped on the side of the road, bought bananas for the kids, and proceeded to the orphanage. When I was preparing to leave, I was told that the roads were blocked by demonstrators and had become dangerous. The immediate report was that extremists were shooting Christians in the neighborhood. The children became quite frightened, and most of them were evacuated to a nearby police station. The adults and older teenagers stayed at the compound. I was informed that my white skin made the entire orphanage a target and was swiftly hidden away in a storage room which sat near the main road. I received a phone call and text messages indicating that several churches across the city were burning.
In a few seconds, the rioters arrived. The sound of the crowd rivaled that of a train and seemed to last forever. It felt to me as if they had parked themselves directly outside my storage room. A Nigerien pastor, we’ll call him Bob, and his supernaturally loud telephone kept me company. I knew that aggression against Christians, while uncommon, was possible in Niger and was one of the risks of living here. The crowd continued to roar. Bob’s phone rang. Frightening gunfire and explosions could be heard in the not-so-distant distance. Bob’s phone rang. There was no way for me to confirm if the reports of random shootings were true; in the end they were not. Bob’s phone rang. The angry people seemed so close. Surely, someone would discover us silently hiding in that room. Bob, please turn off your ridiculous phone! I called my parents and told them to pray. And, Bob’s phone rang. I sat in that darkened room on my bench listening to the howl of the crowd, pondering life’s great questions, fighting the urge to throw Bob through the window… and becoming incredibly sleepy. Apparently, my way of dealing with stress is to go to sleep. I could hardly keep my eyes open. I turned and stretched out on the dusty bench. I stared at the door and envisioned armed men rushing into the room. A very strange fearful peace slowly fell upon me. I thought about all the decisions that led to me being there in that moment and wondered where I might be if I had made different choices. Had anything I done meant anything to anyone? I hoped desperately that someone had felt loved by my presence.
The mob lingered for about half an hour and departed as suddenly as it had arrived. Light filled the room, and one of the boys appeared in the doorway. “Uncle Jeremy,” he said, “you can come out now.” I walked into the sandy yard and joined the other men and boys. Bob’s phone rang. We sat on the long porch of one of the buildings quietly and tiredly discussing the events of the day. The rioters had broken a gate, burned a pile of old mattresses, and entered one of the dorms. They had also stolen a few new mattresses and some powdered milk. No one was physically injured and the damage was very minor. Many churches and Christian projects in that neighborhood were nearly totally destroyed. It was about 3 in the afternoon and everybody had missed lunch. The teenagers scoured the kitchen for food but found nothing. I piled them into my car, which the mob had had kindly left unscathed, and headed toward the pavement. Everything seemed calm so I gave them money for food and began the 20 minute drive across town. I stopped at a friend’s house to gather more information about what had happened. His wife was cooking, and they kindly invited me to eat. Green beans never tasted so good.
About 80 Christian institutions were affected with the damage ranging from very minor to total destruction. Several pastors who live on the same lot as their churches lost their homes. Many Christian families have felt threatened and have moved to more secure locations. The riots were broadly characterized as a Muslim effort to protest against the use of Mohamed in a French satirical magazine.
One of the Nigerien church denominations I work with has about 8 churches in Niamey. Only one of our churches was affected and its damage was superficial. In the case of that church, Muslim youth prevented the crowd from burning the pastor’s house. At another location, the Muslim neighbors protected both the church and the parsonage. The other 6 locations were not affected, though the small size of most of them may have helped keep them safe.
Niger has since then been relatively calm. However, the mood within Niger remains uneasy. The events of last month sparked a storm of worries that have been brewing for several months. The terrorist group Boko Haram has been very active in northern Nigeria and recently staged its first attacks within the borders of Niger but were repelled. Certain extreme ideologies, fed by Boko Haram, seem to be taking hold in parts of Niger though it is unlikely that it had direct ties to the planning of the aggression against Niger’s churches. Also, the political climate here has been fluctuating in recent months. A high ranking political figure is in exile while his wife is in prison and no one knows if he is guilty of what he is accused or if he is being framed. The current political target is the president. Many believe that the riots were planned or sanctioned by the opposition party in an effort to make the president look weak. Another component was the mob mentality. In Niger, engaging in boisterous protests seems to be a rite of passage for older teens and university students. Every year we have protest season in which students march the streets to bring attention to some perceived problem. Student protests may include burning tires but are usually peaceful. Further, many refugees from conflicts in the area remain in Niger. The frustration over the use of Mohamed’s image in a French magazine was simply a catalyst.
The future of Niger is very much in flux. Many people believe that Niger will weather these current issues without major casualties while many others believe that the destabilization of Niger has only just begun. In general, the population of Niger does not want militant Islam though many remote villages sympathize with many extremist groups. Certainly, having Boko Haram staging attacks within Niger is quite unsettling. However, many nationals and expatriates still have faith in the common people of Niger, and at the moment so do I. The hope is that violent protests and riots will continue to be the exception and not the rule.
One of the things that has been in mind is the plight of the Nigerien Christian. What would happen to the Christians of Niger if every foreign Christian was forced to leave? I honestly cannot answer that question. The faith of so many people seems to be directly tied to physical things. Pray for the situation in Niger, but pray more for the Christians of Niger as they begin to face intense persecution.
During the final stages of the New Testament period (c. 60), a change of leadership within the Roman Empire ended the official guarantee of religious freedom. This political change ultimately lead to the executions of Paul and Peter. Someone recently said, “Mohamed was about submission while Jesus was about suffering.” It’s easy to forget, in my safe routine, that Jesus’ life revolved around suffering. For many Christians, the fire of the Holy Spirit in their hearts leads to the fire of destruction in their earthly lives. Even so, send the fire.
Recent Comments