Bishop Oliver Dashe Dome of Maiduguri, northeast of Nigeria is calling for western military intervention to put an end to the terror brought on by the militant group Boko Haram in Nigeria.
In his interview with the Aid to the Church in Need, a charity working on behalf of suffering Christians, the prelate lamented the continuous acts of violence being perpetrated by the group and accused the government of knowing who is sponsoring the attacks but still allowing the atrocities to happen.
He charged that the offensive against the Boko Haram remains weak because of "incompetence" and sympathisers of the group within the military ranks itself.
"The West should bring in security – land forces to contain and beat back Boko Haram. A concerted military campaign is needed by the West to crush Boko Haram," he said.
The bishop further lamented the decimation of churches in the region, and death of at least 1,000 of the faithful since 2009.
Boko Haram, since it was established in 2009, has consistently fought to overthrow the government with the goal of creating an Islamic state. Its activities have resulted in at least 13,000 deaths while around 1.5 million have been forced to leave their homes out of fear.
Its latest wave of terror happened over the weekend when the group raided Mabass, a small village in Cameroon and abducted 80 people, most of whom were women and children.
An Al Jazeera update reported that as of press time, 24 hostages were liberated as the Cameroonian armed forces pushed its offensive against the Boko Haram.
Even as members of the group launched their attack in Cameroon, a suicide bombing perpetrated by one if its members killed five people and injured 35 others in Potiskum, Nigeria.
The attacks are believed to be the militants' response to the offensives launched by the Chad military in Baga, which was taken over by the Boko Haram earlier in the month in what could be considered the group's deadliest raid yet.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch estimated at least 2,000 people massacred by the Boko Haram in the raid which destroyed close to 4,000 structures in Baga.
The area is believed to be a strategic location as it straddles the borders of Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon and would enable the group to conduct their operations freely across the region.
