Nigeria Adventist leader says Boko Haram destroyed Adventist church

September 23, 2014 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Ansel Oliver/ANN

A Church official said an Adventist church was destroyed last month by Boko Haram insurgents in the village of Magar near Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state. Image by Amber Sarno

A Seventh-day Adventist Church official in Northern Nigeria said the terrorist group Boko Haram destroyed an Adventist Church last month after members fled the area.

The Magar Adventist Church in the Northeastern state of Borno was burned on Saturday, August 23, said Stephen H. Bindas, president of the Northern Nigeria Union Conference, based in Abuja. The incident happened after the congregation’s 67 members left the area to escape Boko Haram’s threats, Bindas said.

Magar is a village near Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state. The Adventist congregation there is one of seven rural churches built in 2009 with funds provided by the denomination’s Global Mission, Bindas said.

Bindas said the whereabouts of many members are unknown. Some went as far as the city of Jos in the middle of the country and are now staying at the headquarters of the North East Nigeria Conference.

“At the moment, the insurgents have taken over their homes, foodstuffs and beddings,” Bindas said in an email. Though none of the Adventist churches in the region had previously been threatened, many other Christian groups are facing the same fate, he said.

“We ask the world church to remember Northern Nigeria in prayers and to assist in whatever means to restore hope to these fleeing members and their families,” he said.