Source: World Watch Monitor, May 3, 2014
The focus of the search for the missing Nigerian girls has moved across the Nigerian borders to Cameroon and Chad, with some reported sightings. (See Nigeria’s Kidnapped Teens Feared to Be Abroad.) As if almost in anticipation of the world’s spotlight falling upon them, and in response to incidents shortly before the girls’ kidnap, locals have been attempting to be pro-active, rather than reactive, to such unsettling events.
Christian and Muslim leaders in Northern Cameroon, fearful that their region may become another area of sectarian violence, have opted for preventive measures.
”We want to say no to what is happening, unfortunately, in neighboring Central African Republic and Nigeria. We want to live here in good relationships between Muslims and Christians. We say no to all those who want to come from outside to disturb our current climate of peace,” said Philip Stevens, Bishop of Maroua-Mokolo, in a telephone interview with World Watch Monitor.
The long-standing peaceful cohabitation witnessed by religious communities in Northern Cameroon has been challenged in recent months following the abduction of the girls, and of several Europeans, by Boko Haram militants.
» Read full story, and see links there to previous stories about kidnapping in Cameroon.
» See also Nigeria’s Kidnapped School Girls Moved to Cameroon and Chad, Some Forced to Marry Islamic Extremists (The Christian Post).