Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lagos (Agenzia Fides) – The Catholic Church in Nigeria has decided to send all the money collected from the Masses on Sunday, May 24 to help victims of the fighting taking place in the Delta region (see Fides 26/5/2009).
Archbishop Felix Alaba-Job of Ibadan, President of the Nigerian Bishops' Conference, sent a letter to all the Dioceses of the country encouraging Bishops to send their collections to the Secretariat.
“In the letter, I directed that the special collections and donations be taken up for our brothers and sisters who are suffering in the Niger Delta. Whatever is realized will be sent to the Development and Peace Office of the Catholic Secretariat for onward remission to the needy in the Niger Delta region," the archbishop said. "The collection is to show that love still exists between us. We are aware of the tension in the Niger Delta. It is not time to apportion blames, but to assist our brothers and sisters in need," he said.
The money collected will be used to purchase food and clothing for orphans, widows, and hostages, victims of the fighting between members of the military and guerrillas of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
On May 15, the Military Task Force (consisting in the army, navy, and air force) in charge of ending MEND activity, began heavy bombing of the MEND camps from the air and sea, with three batallions of infantry attacking the guerrilla strongholds. However, the military operations have also caused civilian victims and many have been forced to flee their homes.
Taking advantage of the 5-day ceasefire, Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua today renewed his offer for a truce today (May 29), which he had offered the MEND guerrillas in April. “The amnesty offer to the guerrillas, asking that they lay down their arms, continues being valid,” the Nigerian President stated, encouraging members of MEND to join the government to aid in the development of the Delta Region.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta affirms that it is fighting for the rights of the local peoples, who do not benefit from the oil-rigging taking place in the area in any manner.
The MEND performs acts of sabotage on the oil ducts in the area and also kidnap the employees of the associations working on the extraction.
Archbishop Alaba-Job, in recalling the many kidnappings that have taken place in the Niger Delta and other parts of Nigeria, condemned these criminal acts: “It is not right to kidnap innocent people, torture them and ask for ransom from their families before they are released. That can not be accepted in the Catholic Church. It is not a justifiable way of getting redress," he said. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 29/5/2009)
