The Gwoza Christian Community Association (GCCA) has issued a strong appeal to President Bola Tinubu, urging him to personally intervene in what it described as years of systemic injustice, exclusion and neglect of indigenous Christians in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday, the association accused authorities of presiding over an unequal reconstruction and resettlement process following the Boko Haram insurgency, alleging that Christian communities have been largely shut out of rebuilding efforts despite suffering massive losses.

According to GCCA, the scale of destruction inflicted on Christian communities in Gwoza during the height of the insurgency remains staggering. Of the 176 large churches operating in the area before the conflict, GCCA disclosed that 148 were destroyed, with only 12 rebuilt, those restored during the tenure of then-Governor Kashim Shettima, now Vice President.

The group provided detailed casualty figures, stating that in September 2013 alone, insurgents sacked 74 towns and villages in Gwoza-West, killing 292 people, destroying 99 churches and displacing nearly 37,000 families. Further attacks in Attagara, Gwoza town, Kamba and Ghraza between 2013 and 2014 reportedly left hundreds more dead, including at least 12 pastors, and reduced thousands of homes to rubble.

Beyond the immediate violence, GCCA said displacement has become a long-term humanitarian crisis. The association estimates that more than 107,000 Gwoza Christians are currently living in 27 internally displaced persons (IDP) camps across seven Nigerian states and in Minawao refugee camp in Cameroon, while an additional 50,000 remain displaced with relatives, many for over a decade.

Central to the group’s grievance is what it described as discriminatory reconstruction. GCCA alleged that while Muslim homes have been extensively rebuilt on their ancestral lands, Christian survivors have been excluded from resettlement schemes. Of thousands of resettlement houses constructed, the group claimed it could identify only three Christian beneficiaries, despite Christians being among the most displaced populations.

The association also accused authorities of erasing Christian heritage, citing the demolition of a church within Gwoza General Hospital, later converted into a solar facility, while a nearby mosque within the same complex was rehabilitated.

Unresolved abductions remain another source of anger. GCCA recalled that five of its members, including a former vice chairman of the local government, were abducted in July 2013 and have never been accounted for. Their families, the group said, have received no sustained legal, economic or psychosocial support.

In its formal demands, GCCA called on President Tinubu to order an independent audit of all reconstruction and resettlement projects in Gwoza, publish beneficiary lists, investigate the unresolved abductions, restore destroyed churches, and guarantee equitable resettlement and security for returning Christians.

The group also demanded the reinstatement of Christian Religious Knowledge in public schools and fair representation in local governance.

“We are not asking for a favour. We are begging for the dignity of truth, justice and a safe home for our people,” the association said, insisting that displaced Christians want homes rebuilt on their ancestral land rather than cash compensation.

GCCA concluded by urging President Tinubu to establish a special federal repatriation and resettlement committee and to deploy a military battalion in Gwoza-East to prevent insurgent regrouping, stressing that only visible presidential leadership can halt what it described as the “slow death” of its communities.

This article was also published here: TheNewsGuru Website

View the  Archives  for more Press Releases