Catholics in their numbers defied the rain in Abuja to protest against the alarming rate of insecurity in the country. The march, which started from the National Christian Centre and terminated at the Our Lady Queen of Nigeria, Pro Cathedral, Area 3 within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was led by Most Rev. Augustine Akubueze who is the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN).
The Catholic Bishops made the declaration on Sunday,March 1st, 2020, when they took to the streets in their numbers to protest the serial killings of Nigerians by Boko Haram terrorists and kidnappers, they called out on the federal government that the killing of God’s children is evil, likewise the failure to protect innocent people from the relentless attacks by Boko Haram insurgents.
Rev. Akubeze, speaking after the procession told President Muhammadu Buhari that his “silence on the worsening insecurity problem in the country is sowing and breeding a seed of mistrust, and the longer it stays, the more you lose those who could have given you the benefit of the doubt.”
“There have been too many mass burials, too many kidnappings of schoolchildren, travelers, invasion of people’s homes, invasion of sacred places like churches, mosques, seminaries, he added.
Rev. Akubueze urged President Buhari to listen to the “cries of Nigerians, and also listen to the National Assembly which has unanimously called on you to change the security chiefs and take more proactive actions to prevent terrorist attacks in the country, especially in the North East.”
“We cannot understand why the government’s reaction to the beheading of Rev. Lawan Andimi (Michika LG CAN chairman) has not shown that there is going to be any consequences for those responsible,” he said.
“Nigerians are tired of reading of such killings as that of an orphan seminarian who was just 18 years old and of a young wife and mother. Nigerians are tired of hearing of the inexcusable actions of the government in their response to these and many other sad cases, he added.
The CBCN President also called on President Buhari to seek foreign help over the raging attacks on Nigerians as well reassure the citizens that there was no agenda to Islamise them by not giving an undue advantage to a section or religion and its adherents bearing in mind that Nigeria is a secular state.
“As we match, pray and protest today, we want all Catholics in Nigeria not to be hopeless, we want Catholics and other well-meaning patriotic Nigerians to stand together and fight this terrorism,”he said.
