Prayer needed | Christians in the DRC (Slegs in Engels)

Open Doors local field sources have been able to confirm that all those violently killed in Mayba by suspected militants from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) are Christians. Mayba is a predominantly Christian area and there is said to be no mosque in the village. Mayba is situated in the Baswagha chiefdom, Lubero territory, North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Field sources recount that at about 4a.m. on Thursday February 13, 2025, the militants captured and tied up some 20 Christians in the community of Mayba. “On the Karmeli hill, the militants went door by door saying, ‘get out, get out and don’t make any noise’. 20 Christian men and women came out and they tied them up for an unknown destination. This happened at around 4am on Thursday 13 February 2025”, explains an elder in Matuna, situated some 40km from Mayba.

The population was agitated. They decided to gather to think of the way forward and how to free those who had been kidnapped. Unfortunately, during this gathering at about 6p.m., ADF militants surrounded the village. Field sources say they captured about 50 other Christians and tied them up.

The captives were all taken to a Protestant church in Kasanga where they were killed, either with hammers or machetes. Muhindo Musunzi, director of the Kombo primary school [which belongs to the CECA20 church] explains that prior to this incident, churches, schools and health centres had all shut their doors because of the chaotic security situation. “We had to move all activities towards Vunyinga”, he said.

Field sources say until Tuesday February 18, 2025, some families have not been able to bury their dead because of the insecurity in the area. Many Christians have fled the area to somewhere deemed safer. “We don’t know what to do or how to pray; we’ve had enough of massacres. May God’s will alone be done”, said an elder of the CECA20 church. This is one of the deadliest attacks in the Lubero territory since the ADF started attacks there recently. ADF fighters have killed more than 200 people in the last month in the Baswagha chiefdom, Lubero territory according to a local news website.

Note that the ADF intensified attacks in the Beni territory (North Kivu province) in 2014. The attacks have over the years spread to the Irumu and Mambasa territory (Ituri province) and now the Lubero territory (North Kivu province). Thousands of Christians who are displaced multiple times have been killed, houses looted and burnt down, schools relocated, churches and health facilities closed, and several Christian villages abandoned.