Catholic bishops in Nigeria have decried the alarming rise in insecurity in the country, declaring that nowhere is safe for citizens to reside, trade, study or practice their faith any longer.
President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Lucius Ugorji, stated this on behalf of other bishops at the golden jubilee celebration of Archbishop Anthony Obinna in Owerri, Imo State.
The cleric said Nigeria was soaked with the blood of the innocent, lamenting that the country had come under the siege of Fulani militia, masquerading as herdsmen.
He condemned the heartless killing of Deborah, the female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto State and the attack of churches in the state as well as the kidnapping of the prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria.
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He berated the Federal Government for not fulfilling its obligation of protecting lives and property, lamenting that citizens now live in fear due to incessant attacks by terrorists.
‘Nigeria is bleeding; our land is soaked in blood, from North to South, East to West, blood is flowing like a river. Nigerians now live in fear and anxiety, as a dark cloud of uncertainty hangs over the nation. Nowhere is secure – our homes, our highways, our institutions of learning and even our sacred precincts of worship centres are all unsafe. Why has our country become so insecure while we have a government charged with the responsibility of defending the lives and property of one and all? Why has life become so cheap and short in Nigeria? Why must people who slaughter unarmed and law-abiding citizens in our communities be allowed to go scot-free?
‘As we celebrate here today, my heart returns to the bloody scene at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, where many unarmed worshippers, including couples, women, little children, and infants, were gruesomely murdered and many others brutally wounded on Pentecost Sunday. We continue to pray for the happy repose of the dead, the speedy recovery of the injured, and the consolation of the bereaved.
‘The killing of innocent worshippers is outrageous, sacrilegious, condemnable, and totally unacceptable. Recently, it was the kidnapping of the Prelate of the Methodist Church, Nigeria, who later disclosed that he and his two co-travellers, were abducted by armed Fulani, with the active connivance of the military. And last Sunday, the story was the bloody attack of the church in Owo,’ Ugorji said.
Ugorji, however, expressed the optimism that the image and situation of the country could still be redeemed by voting the right leaders in the forthcoming 2023 general election.