Niger Christians try to forgive after attacks

NIAMEY, April 6, (AFP): Thousands of Christians across Niger tried to forgive and move on as they celebrated the first Easter since their churches were torched during deadly riots spurred by the publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

The walls and ceiling are still black from flames at the Saint Gabriel parish church in the capital Niamey, which was left without doors or windows by the unrest in January that killed 10 people and destroyed eight out of ten of the country’s churches.

“We are still in shock. We have forgiven, but what happened is still in our hearts,” said Father Paul Wendyam Sandwidi, a priest at Saint Gabriel’s. “We hold nothing against those who attacked us,” he added.

Undeterred by the stench of smoke and the damage done to the building, hundreds of worshippers went there Saturday to pray.

“They destroyed my church, but they didn’t dam- age my faith,” said parishioner Marie at a service, where rubble still littered the floor.

Saint Gabriel and 44 other churches were torched — causing three million euros in damage — during protests set off when the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo published the image of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) on its cover three months ago.

The publication came just a week after Islamist gunmen killed 12 people in an attack on the paper’s office.

To many Muslims, any such depiction is blasphemous and the Charlie Hebdo cover prompted protests around the world.

But the ferocity of the reaction in Niger shocked many where sectarian violence had been rare and Christians make up less than two percent of the mainly Muslim nation’s population of 17 million. The government declared three days of officials mourning after the flames subsided.