February 26 – Thousands of Catholic faithfuls of the Enugu Diocese participated in a prayer protest over the worsening insecurity situation in the country in their black attire.
The Catholic Church often referred to as the Roman Catholic Church and the largest Christian Church with parishes all over the states and nation on Ash Wednesday willingly heeded to the directives of their leaders to wear black as a semblance to the mourning state of the nation that has lost thousands of lives and properties to insurgents.
Delivering an address by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, titled, ‘Prayer and Penance for Peace and Security’ at the Holy Ghost Cathedral, Enugu, the Diocesan Bishop, Most Reverend Chukwuma Onaga said the insecurity in the country has gotten to a level where most Nigerians live in fear both at home and on the road. The situation at this protest rally this Wednesday recall the atmosphere at a similar event in 2019.
On Aug. 4, 2019 about 1,000 Catholics attended a Mass offered by Bishop Callistus Onaga at the Holy Ghost Cathedral , Enugu following the killing of Fr. Paul Offu. Offu was killed by gunmen, suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, on August 1, 2019 when he was returning to his parish, St. James the Greater Parish in Enugu state.
The killing of Offu triggered a massive protest by priests in the diocese who marched through the streets in the city.
“Nobody is safe now; we are no longer safe,” Onaga said during the Mass. “We should always pray for peace of our people and land because we are not the only ones affected. We seem to be living in a state of anarchy, total breakdown of law and order. In recent times, an alarming number of our people, including priests and government officials, have been killed by these murderers. The rate of kidnappings have continued to increase, both in the villages and in cities.”
The Catholic bishop noted that the repeated execution of Christians and cases of kidnapping for ransom linked to Boko Haram and other terrorist groups have traumatized many and regretted that perpetrators of these crimes make public shows of them on social media.
Across Nigeria, countless media reports tell stories of gruesome kidnapping and killings by suspected herdsmen who have been blamed for abductions for ransom and killings. Foreign Affairs reported that “according to the International Crisis Group, in 2018 the conflict between herders and farmers was six times deadlier than Boko Haram, with a death toll of 1,949, almost double what it was the year before.”
Similarly, according to the Nigerian Police in the first quarter of 2019, 1,071 people were killed and 685 others were kidnapped across the country. The spate of such crimes continues unabated and solutions to the frequent unresolved killings in Nigeria appear elusive.
Expressing disappointment, Onaga said, “Nigerians don’t hear of arrests or prosecution of the criminals and this raises grave question about the ability and willingness of the government to protect the lives of ordinary Nigerians.”
“To make matter worse, Onaga continued, many communities are constantly threatened, harassed and sometimes sacked out of their homeland by herdsmen, as they seek to take over more territories to graze their cattle forcefully.”
Most Reverend Onaga reminded the federal government that without security, there can be no peace and without peace, there can be no development or national growth. He further called for the arrest and prosecution of those sowing seeds of hate and distrust in Nigeria.
Afterwards, in an interview with the President General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, he stressed that the state of the nation is now a huge concern to her citizens; security of lives and properties should be paramount in the agenda of any government.
Nwodo maintained that the worsening insecurity reminds one of the disunity in the country as well as the unfaithfulness to the constitution.
Many of the church members who participated in the prayer procession expressed their sadness over the temerity of Senator Ibrahim Geidam sponsor of the bill titled, “National Agency for the Education, Rehabilitation, De-radicalisation and Integration of Repentant Insurgents in Nigeria’. This move they said would be a total waste of the resources of the nation which the hoodlums have destroyed; such funds rather should be made available for infrastructural rehabilitation.
The highpoint of the protest was a prayer procession through some streets within the Enugu metropolis led personally by Bishop Onaga and other priests.
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