The President of the EkklesiyyaYan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN) also known as the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, Rev. Joel Billi said the church has lost over 8,370 members to insurgent attacks as a result of activities of Boko Haram in North-East Nigeria.
Billi revealed this when he spoke to reporters on Thursday. He also said that apart from the lost members, eight pastors of the denomination were killed by Boko Haram while over 700,000 members displaced.
The EYN is the largest indigenous Christian denomination in the North east with over 1.5 million members spread over Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
While lamenting that 53 of the 60 District Church Councils of the EYN were directly affected by insurgents, he appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and Governors of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe to ensure the rescue of the remaining Chibok girls as well as Leah Sheribu, Alice Loksha and hundreds of other people abducted by Boko Haram.
Billi added that many members had been abducted while 217 of the abducted 276 Chibok school girls belonged to the EYN.
Appealing that the President should station a battalion of soldiers in Gworza local government area of Borno state, he lamented that many of the communities in the local government area are still deserted due to repeated attacks from Boko Haram members.
He also called on the government to reconstruct the houses, schools and worship places destroyed by the insurgents.
