AFRICA/NIGERIA - The President of the Bishops': “Nigeria is bleeding; Nigerians now live in fear and anxiety”

Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - "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", denounces His Exc. Mgr. Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, Archbishop-elect of Owerri and President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), during the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Owerri, Msgr. Anthony J. V. Obinna.
Referring to the massacre in the church of St. Francis Xavier in Owo on Sunday, June 5 (see Fides, 6/6/2022), Msgr. Ugorji said: "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".
Msgr. Ugorji believes that "it has become obvious that our country is under siege by Fulani militia, masquerading as herdsmen. A few weeks ago, it was the heartless killing of Deborah and the callous attack of churches in Sokoto" referring to the young Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a Christian student, lynched on May 12 for "alleged blasphemy" (see Fides 18/5/2022) and the riots that followed (see Fides, 24/5/2022).
Msgr. Ugorji then cited "the kidnapping of the Prelate of the Methodist Church in 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", recalled Msgr. Ugorji. Interior Minister Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, however, accused the affiliation in Nigeria of the Islamic State, of being responsible for the Pentecost Sunday massacre. Pending the general elections of 2023, Msgr. Ugorji invited "to avoid apathy and indifference and stand together to elect only credible candidates with character, competence and capacity; candidates with proven records of achievements and who are known for putting the common good above their private and selfish interests". (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 10/6/2022)

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