CAR archbishop steps in to protect Muslims

A Roman Catholic archbishop in the
Central African Republic, Dieudome
Nzapalainga, grappled with a knife-
wielding militiaman who was
threatening to kill a Muslim child,
according to eye-witnesses of the
incident Sunday.
Outnumbered and unarmed, the
archbishop of Bangui and his
medical team held off what was
described as a bloodthirsty mob
until the sick girl and her parents
could be driven to safety, Voice of
America reports.
Nzapalainga had spent four days
with his medical team giving free
care to hundreds of people in
villages around the town of Yaloke,
about 225 kilometers from Bangui.
One of the settlements was
predominantly Peul – a Muslim
ethnic group that has sided with
the Seleka rebels in the past two
years of conflict. The Peul
community has been a frequent
target of the mostly Christian anti-
balaka militia.
While in the village, the archbishop
and his team decided to take a sick
eight-year-old girl, with her
parents, to Bangui to be treated at
the hospital.
Although the team had the
protection of United Nations
peacekeepers in the villages, their
travel to and from Bangui was
without any kind of military escort.
Returning to Bangui, the
archbishop and his team were
stopped by the anti-balaka at a
roadblock 26 kilometers north of
Bangui.
A doctor with the team, Elkana
Ndawatcha, told VOA what
happened next.
“The anti-balaka had a grenade and
they threatened to throw it at our
cars” if the group tried to leave.
“They also had knives,” he said, and
they dragged a Peul out of one of
the cars and were going to kill him.
Ndawatcha says Archbishop
Nzapalainga intervened and
grabbed the arm of a man who was
about to draw a knife. The man
pulled out the knife and the
archbishop was left holding the
sheath.
The doctor said that the eight
people with the archbishop had to
argue and fight with the 10 anti-
balaka for 15 minutes before they
could get away.
He said finally they got the Peuls
back into the car and fled with
them in two vehicles, while the
archbishop stayed behind with the
other two cars and restrained the
anti-balaka.
A local journalist, who also
witnessed the incident, Jovis
Ouakara, confirmed the account.
The sick girl made it to the
archbishop’s house and was
transferred to a hospital.
Ndawatcha said the incident
happened next to a roadblock
manned by Central African police, or
gendarmes.
He said they were “about 15 meters
from a gendarmerie roadblock but
none of the gendarmes intervened
to help.”
Many observers have questioned
the neutrality of the Central African
security forces in the CAR’s
sectarian conflict.
The Catholic Church is one of the
few organizations still providing
any medical aid in the villages of
the CAR, and its teams often face
harassment from armed groups.
Commenting on the Sunday
incident, missionary Father Patrick
Mbea – head of the Congregation of
the Holy Spirit in the CAR – says this
conflict is not one of religion
because the actions of the anti-
balaka can in no way be described
as Christian.