Maiduguri: “40% of our city is under water” says Nigerian bishop

24/09/2024, Author: Filipe D’Avilez

Aid to the Church in Need has committed to helping the Diocese of Maiduguri, struck by terrible flooding, with the provision of food, sanitation, medicine and shelter.

 The Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Maiduguri, in Nigeria, has issued an appeal for help in the wake of devastating floods that are affecting the city in northern Nigeria. In a video message sent to pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Auxiliary Bishop John Bakeni makes a request for aid, stating that “the city of Maiduguri has been engulfed with a devastating flood and over 40% of the city is under water.”

Bishop Oliver Doeme, of Maiduguri, surveys the damage.

“We are reaching out to our friends at Aid to the Church in Need for your prayers, especially at this difficult and challenging time,” the auxiliary bishops adds in a video message filmed outside the cathedral of St. Patrick, which is largely under water. Maiduguri is one of the main cities in northern Nigeria, and for many years was the diocese most affected by the insurgency led by Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. Christians are a minority in the diocese.

The cathedral of St. Patrick in Maiduguri Diocese is submerged.

Bishop John explains that at least one million people are suffering from the effects of the flood. “A good number of our parishes and our parishioners have been affected by this devastating flood. In the city, over a million people have been affected, and over 200 thousand families have been displaced. We are still carrying out our assessment, but three or four parishes of ours have been affected, and over 20,000 parishioners have been affected,” the auxiliary bishop says, adding that most of them are now living in host communities.

Bishop Oliver Doeme, of Maiduguri, visits residents of affected areas.

The flood in Maiduguri is believed to be the result of damage to the Alau Dam, located a few kilometres from the city of Maiduguri. ACN has committed to help the Catholics of the embattled diocese, specifically through the provision of emergency aid for food, medicine, sanitation and shelter. At the same time, bishop John explains, heavy rain in the mountains in the south of the diocese have also caused floods, which have affected, in particular, St. Pious IX parish in Shuwa, about 130 kilometres from Maiduguri, with parishioners there also requiring assistance.

Bishop John reaches out to ACN benefactors for their help, saying that “we are praying that God will give us the grace to live through these challenging times. God bless you.”