Following the recent killing in Benue state which claimed the lives of two Catholic priest and 15 other parishioners, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference (CBCN) have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to resign from office over the failure of his administration to provide security of lives and properties.
This call was made in a statement issued and Jointly signed by Most Reverend Augustine Akubeze and Most Reverend Camillus Umoh, CBCN President and Secretary respectively.
According to the statement, over two years, the Bishops have consistently asked President to Buhari to revisit the configuration of the country’s security agencies, which it pointed out that the composition is lopsided with one religion dominating.
“On February 8 this year, when we paid the President a courtesy call, we raised alarm over the security of the nation and the spate of violence perpetrated with impunity by people who have neither respect for the value of human life nor regard for the laws of our country, urging him to take the most drastic steps to stem the tide of this evil in our land,” said CBCN.
Since then, according to the bishops, the killings and destruction of properties, as well as farmlands, have risen in intensity and brutality.
CBCN maintained that the murder of the two priests, Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha, along with their parishioners, was carefully planned because it was carried out during an early morning Mass.
“Since then, added the CBCN, the bloodletting and destruction of homes as well as farmlands have risen in intensity and brutality.
The Bishops argued that the murder of the two priests, Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha, along with their parishioners, was carefully planned because it was carried out during an early morning Mass.
“This wicked act cannot be said to be a revenge attack (as is often claimed). Indeed, we have just discovered that on January 3 this year, Father Gor tweeted: ‘we are living in fear. The Fulanis are still around here in Mbalom. They refuse to go. They still go grazing around. No weapons to defend ourselves.’ Their desperate cries for security and help went unheeded by those who should have heard them “said the CBCN.
Furthermore, the Bishops wondered why victims of herdsmen attacks are being advised to defend themselves without weapons.
They also wondered why the Federal Government, which it’s responsibility is to protect lives and properties, is accusing those who advocate for self-defence of inciting victims to take up arms.
“How can the Federal Government stand back while its security agencies deliberately turn a blind eye to the cries and wails of helpless and armless citizens who remain sitting ducks in their homes, farms, highway and now, even in their sacred places of worship?
“Now, our churches have been desecrated and our people murdered on their altars. “Today, we Christians feel violated and betrayed in a nation that we have all continued to sacrifice and pray for. We collectively feel abandoned and betrayed,” the Bishops said.
“We are sad and fear that the clock is ticking. The bomb must be defused quickly before it explodes.
“Since the President, who appointed the heads of the nation’s security agencies has refused to call them to order, even in the face of the chaos and barbarity into which our country has been plunged, we are left with no choice but to conclude that they are acting a script that he approves of,” the Bishops said.
They added that if the President is unable to keep the country safe, then he should no longer continue in office.
“It is clear to the nation that he has failed in his primary duty of protecting the lives of the Nigerian citizens.
“Whether this failure is due to inability to perform or lack of political will, it is time for him to choose the part of honour and consider stepping aside to save the nation from total collapse,” the Bishops added. (Tribune)
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