A minor seminary in eastern Burkina Faso was attacked on the night of Feb. 10-11 by unidentified armed jihadists.
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) received the sad news that the minor seminary Saint Kisito de Bougui, in the diocese of Fada N’Gourma, East Burkina Faso, located about ten kilometers from Fada N’Gourma, was attacked.
Though there were no losses in human life, there was a lot of material damage. From sources on the ground, ACN was able to confirm that some 30 jihadists on motorcycles violently entered the seminary around 8:00 p.m. They remained for over an hour, during which time they burned down two dormitories as well as a classroom. They also burned one car and stole a second one.
A crucifix was also destroyed, in what seminary residents took as a clear sign of the radical Islamist motives for the attack.
They told the seminarians that they should go now, because they will come back and, if some remain, they will be killed. At the time of the attack, there were 146 minor seminarians, along with seven formators.
The seminarians were sent back to their family homes, where they are expected to remain for at least a week. Many of those living in the village where the seminary is located are afraid and some of them are leaving.
Burkina Faso has been living through this silent torment for years now. It is a slow agony that has prompted an exodus of over 1.3 million internal refugees.
