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Boko Haram Terrorists Destroy 1,390 Church Auditoriums – EYA Laments

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Boko Haram Terrorists Destroy 1, 390 Church Auditoriums - EYA Laments
The President of the EYN, Rev Joel Billi addressing the press

Boko Haram terrorists reportedly destroyed 1,390 auditoriums belonging to the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria.

The denomination otherwise addressed in Hausa as Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYA), said on Wednesday that the church suffered setbacks from a series of attacks by the terrorists, especially in the Northern part of the country where branches of the church are dominant.

Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday at the church headquarters in Kwarhi, the President of the EYN, Rev Joel Billi, said the Boko Haram insurgency has posed the greatest threats to the church in its 100 years in Nigeria.

Naija News understands that the church, which started in Garkida in 1923 and currently has its headquarters in Kwarhi, Adamawa State, is described as the most prominent Church of the Brethren denomination in the world.

The church has most of its local congregations in Adamawa State, the rest of the North East, as well as parts of the North Central, especially in Jos, Plateau State, where the church temporarily moved its headquarters to in 2014 when Boko Haram terrorists destroyed the now rebuilt headquarters in Kwarhi.

In his press briefing today as part of the centenary activities of the church, Rev Billi said: “At the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency, 36 of the then 50 EYN DCCs were displaced entirely. Seven were partially closed, with only seven DCC not directly affected by the insurgency.

“Of the 456 local councils and 2280 local church branches at that time, the insurgents destroyed 278 LCC buildings and 1,390 LCB church auditoriums.”

The EYN president also disclosed that Boko Haram has killed a huge number of members of the church while the terrorists also abducted many as they continue to attack the church to date.

He added: “All glory to God because though the insurgency was orchestrated to uproot Christianity in its area of operation, God in his faithfulness used the insurgency to propagate the gospel and expand the frontiers of EYN in Nigeria and the Cameroons.”

He explained that many of those who were displaced by Boko Haram “carried their faith to wherever they went,” and that “today, several EYN churches have sprung up in places where our members went to sojourn because of the insurgency.”