Father David Kulandai Samy, of the Itang Catholic Mission, returned to the Apostolic Vicariate of Gambella and Illubabor a month on from an “unforgettable” assault on his parish to discover bullet wounds in the walls of the presbytery, windows and church.
Clashes between the Anyuak and Nuer tribes led to an attack on the parish compound on 18th December 2025 which the priest said had devastating consequences.
Dr Caroline Hull, National Director of Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) who visited Ethiopia a few weeks before the attack, stressed that the situation was rapidly declining.
She said: “Fr David’s parish is badly flooded for substantial stretches each year and there have been flare-ups of ethnic violence before as well – but none as bad as this.”
Fr Samy told ACN that it was an “unforgettable day and scare in the history of Itang Catholic mission”.
He added: “The clash erupted at dawn from 5.30am. The Nuer tribe occupied the presbytery and the church surroundings as their base and attacked the Anyuak on the other side near Baro River.
“At around 8am large groups of Nuer people with more than 20 dump trucks and heavy weapons arrived and started breaking the houses and robbing people at gunpoint.
“A large number of people entered the parish house and started the breaking the doors of the presbytery with heavy tools like pickaxes and metal bars and looting all the valuables and loading them into the trucks.”
He said all the valuables in the parish church, the priest’s house and all the kindergarten school items stored in the presbytery were stolen and vital documents thrown across the road.
Among the looted goods were Mass kits, including chalices, ciboriums (sacred vessels for keeping consecrated hosts in), incense boats and candle stands.
All altar clothes including child servers’ uniforms and festive Santa Claus outfits were taken. The statue of Jesus was stolen and a new crib destroyed.
They looted all electrical goods including a portable generator, welding machine, drill, a TV, projector and audio system and heaver items such as refrigerator and stove. In the parish office they stole equipment including a printer and camera.
They also made off with furniture and utensils so “not even a teaspoon [was] left in the house”. All of Fr Samy’s belongings were taken including his clothes, and identity cards including his driving licence.
Fr Samy said: “They have looted all the food purchased for three months including rice, dhal oil, spices and other food items and a stack of biscuits and juice for the kindergarten children to last two months have been looted.”
He added: “In this tragic incident, what was more painful is to know some of them who came to loot were our own catholic Faithful, catechists, youth leaders and choir members belonging to that particular ethnic group.”
On 12th January Fr Samy went to the compound with all the necessary tools to properly secure the doors of the presbytery and the church.
He said: “I saw many bullet wounds in the walls of the house, and windows, and church walls, church and school roof sheets have been heavily damaged, and the newly constructed extension of the priest’s house.
“It is heart breaking to see a developing mission collapse to zero again… all property damaged, looted and people killed, wounded and scattered.
“May God help and give us courage to continue in his mission.”
Dr Hull said: “When I was there, he told us that he had never missed Mass in his church despite flooding and attacks so having to flee this time made the situation even worse for him.
“His wasn’t the only parish affected – at least two others were also attacked and badly damaged. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected.”