Bishop: Security of life, property is no longer guaranteed in Nigeria

Bishop Paulinus Chukwuemeka Ezeokafor

Source: Fides

A Nigerian bishop has called for the establishment of stronger security forces around the country after a series of kidnappings, attacks and killing of Christians.

Mgr Paulinus Chukwuemeka Ezeokafor, Bishop of Awka, in the State of Anambra, southern Nigeria, said: "Human beings are being slaughtered regularly by terrorists who are suspected to have targeted the Christians. Security of life and property can no longer be guaranteed in Nigeria."

The Bishop stressed that there are discrepancies between the various local security forces. He recalled how two priests of the Catholic Diocese of Awka were kidnapped in Ondo State and were rescued, using the Anambra State Government's security apparatus. This State - he stressed - is relatively safe, compared to other States of the Federation.

According to Mgr Ezeokafor the federal government should support the local security apparatus such as the Amotekun (Leopard) operation set up on January 9 this year by the governors of six States in southwestern Nigeria (Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti) to coordinate the respective security organs.

Mgr Ezeokafor is the latest Catholic bishops to denounce violence, particular against Christians, and to ask federal and local authorities to guarantee everyone's safety.

At the funeral of the seminarian kidnapped and then killed in the state of Kaduna, in north-western Nigeria, Mgr Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of Sokoto, had harsh words for President Muhammadu Buhari, who was elected on the promise of restoring law and order in the country.

Kukah described not only the insecurity that reigns in Nigeria, but also policies that have deepened the ethnic and religious divisions between North and South.