While Attacks Continue, EYN Communities Are Left to Survive on Faith and Support From the Church Leadership
Boko Haram attacks on the North Eastern communities, major EYN Communities are no longer isolated tragedies, they have become a recurring nightmare, leaving behind grieving families, displaced pastors, and shattered livelihoods. The most alarming of it all is the fact that the government is silent about it.
As the war becomes increasingly unending, security agencies seem overwhelmed and unable to curb the repeated attacks, while civilians continue to bear the brunt—living in fear, with their lives and properties no longer secure.
On Tuesday, 31 of March and Wednesday 1 April, 2026, the EYN National Standing Committee (NSC) moved into the heart of the crisis, visiting the three devastated communities in what many residents described as a rare moment of being seen, heard, and remembered.
What they met was not just damage, but deep exhaustion.
Burnt homes.
Fresh graves.
Fear that refuses to leave.
Despite operating a system where funds flow from Local Church Councils (LCCs) to General Church Councils (GCCs), the EYN Headquarters released ₦1,000,000 each to the displaced families of Garaha community who are currently in Hong, grieving families of Kautikari, and Mayo-ladde whom have suffered several attacks.
Additionally relief funds were also dedicated to displaced pastors from Mussa, whom have become targets and are now living in uncertainty far from their congregations.
The EYN Leadership But it also raised an uncomfortable question:
Why is the Church doing what many believe the government should already be doing?
In Hong while addressing the people of Garaha, the EYN President, Rev. Daniel Y. C. Mbaya, stood before displaced believers and spoke with unusual honesty.
For years, we preached that suffering is part of our inheritance in Christ,” he said. “But we never imagined it would come like this. Now it has come—and we see how difficult it is to live through it.”
His message, “Suffering for Christ,” was not just theological—it was painfully real.
We have prayed for these attacks to stop. They have not stopped—not because God has not heard us, but because through us, the world must see Him,” he added. “If we suffer for Christ, it is gain.”
But for many on ground, the suffering feels too constant to ignore.
In Kautikari, out of the 14 people killed, nine are EYN members, addition to a growing list of lives lost within EYN communities, which continues with disturbing frequency.
In Rumirgo, displaced persons from Mayo-Ladde recounted how they fled with little or nothing, while pastors from Mussa now sheltering in Uba described targeted threats that forced them to abandon their mission fields.
These are not distant statistics.
They are unfolding realities.
Even as the NSC engaged security agencies, pressing for stronger protection, one fact remains clear:
the attacks keep happening.
Quoting the Brethren heritage, Rev. Mbaya reminded the Church:
When one suffers, we all suffer together; when one prospers, we all prosper together.”
And indeed, across these communities, suffering has become collective, but so has resilience.
The reality on ground raises a pressing question—how long will EYN communities continue to suffer together without decisive intervention?
Despite the trauma, the President urged believers not to surrender to fear.
If the world hates us, Christ still loves us. His Church stands with you,” he said. “In this time, let our love increase, let our care deepen, and let our light shine so the world will see Christ in us.”
Despite everything, faith has not collapsed.
Worship has not stopped.
Hope, though strained, is still alive.
Yet, a growing frustration is impossible to ignore.
Because while faith sustains the people,
it does not replace security.
Boko Haram attacks on EYN communities continue to expose a painful gap between survival and protection. Where citizens endure what they should never have to endure repeatedly.
The President urged believers not to lose their light:
In this season, let our love increase, let our care deepen, and let our words encourage. Let our light shine so that the world will see Christ in us,” he said, referencing Romans 8:13–17.
Beyond the encouragement lies a reality demanding attention.
Garaha is still hurting.
Kautikari is still mourning.
Rumirgo is still sheltering the displaced form Mayo-ladde. these are just a very small frangment form the many displaced people cut across the region
And the question refuses to go away:
How many more communities must suffer before decisive action is taken?
Until that answer comes, the Church continues to stand in the gap, not because it has all the resources, but because it refuses to abandon its own.
