A leading Nigerian prelate says faith-based organisations in the Sahel region have become soft targets for extremists.
Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of the Abuja Archdiocese was speaking in an exclusive interview following a regional meeting of West African bishops that took place in Dakar in Senegal designed to tackle extremism.
“The number of churches, mosques, Christians, Muslims, priests, pastors, and imams being kidnapped and maimed by these radical extremists is alarming,” Kaigama said.
Organisations including Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), Islamic State in the West African Province (ISWAP), and others have been wreaking havoc across the Sahel, constituting portions of at least 11 countries – Burkina Faso, Chad, Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan.
