Catholic Diocesan Priests Decry “systematic persecution of Christians” in Nigerian State, Say Bishop Targeted

Addressing the U.S. House on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, the Nigerian Catholic Bishop testified against the atrocities perpetrated against Christians in Nigeria, the Middle Belt Region, and Benue State in particular.

Bishop Anagbe detailed the persecution of Christians, especially in the Northern and Central regions of Nigeria, where he said there is an agenda “to reduce and eventually eliminate the Christian identity” of the country.

The speech attracted a backlash from Muslim leaders in the country, who described the Catholic Bishop’s testimony as “unsubstantiated”.

In their statement that Nigeria Catholic Network (NCN) published on June 1 following their May 27 “usual general meeting”, NCDPA members that Bishop Anagbe shepherds highlight recent attacks, saying, “Ahume and Jimba communities were attacked on May 25. Later in the evening, Aondoana village, the hometown of the Catholic Bishop of Makurdi, was also invaded.”

Amid the attacks, they recount, “the Priest in charge of the mission at Aondoana, Fr. Peter Shima, and the Claretian Sisters had to run into the bush for safety; they are yet to recover from the trauma! Many people, including a two-year-old and a pregnant woman, were gruesomely murdered.”

The violence, they further recount, reached the Yelewata community in Guma Local Government area on May 26, where “three members of one family were killed, and the local Priest, Fr. Jonathan Ukuma, narrowly escaped. A prior incident on April 29 saw Fr. Felix Nyinya of Ayar-Mbalom community also fleeing an attack.”

Despite the scale of violence, deaths and displacement of people from their ancestral homes by suspected terrorists, NCDPA members ministering in Makurdi Diocese lament, “No arrests have been made, the governor and the government have not visited to offer hope, consolation and show concern and solidarity; not even the Catholic Bishop whose village and Priests were attacked and shot by these Marauders has been visited.”

“This attitude raises grave suspicious concerns about complicity and abandonment,” they lament. 

Referring to the May 24 shooting and injuring of their colleague, Fr. Solomon Atongo, alongside other targeted acts of violence in Nigeria’s Benue State, the Catholic Priests say they “strongly condemn the recent gruesome attacks on our brothers and sisters.”

In the statement published on June 1, members of NCDPA in Makurdi Diocese condemn “the coordinated violence unleashed on the communities of Tse Orbiam, Ahume, Jimba, Nagi-Camp, Aondoana, Yelewata and Abegana, which have left over 50 people dead, including women and children.”

“These acts are inhumane, barbaric, and a gross violation of the sanctity and dignity of human life,” they lament.

The Catholic Priests are also particularly concerned about what they describe as “ethnic cleansing of Tiv people by these terrorists’ herdsmen”.

They urge Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia, the Catholic Priest that Bishop William Amove Avenya suspended in May 2022, to “use the overwhelming mandate he received from the masses” when they elected him into office to stop the massacres.

“Failure to be decisive in coordinating and directly confronting these terrorists and their masterminders to bring to an end the persistent bloodshed and injustice on his weak and defenseless masses in the villages, would be seen as indifference or insensitivity,” they warn.

The Catholic Priests note “with dismay the low energy displayed by our Nigerian army stationed at some of these affected areas.”

(Story continues below)

“We also regret to say that their inability to stop the attacks or go after the terrorists, betrays professionalism, and this speaks complicity,” they say referring to the perceived laxity of the Nigeria’s military after the attack on Fr. Atongo that reportedly happened some 500 meters from an army checkpoint.

NCPDA members ministering in Makurdi Diocese also call upon the Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to “declare total war against the terrorists, who Governor Hyacinth Alia has earlier identified as non-Nigerians, but have besieged Benue and Nigeria, and continue to undermine the country’s integrity.”

They urge the Nigerian security agencies, especially the military, to be “consciously and deliberately professional and patriotic in the discharge of their duties across Nigeria.”

“The government must be responsible and accountable and must respond by action and not only by mere press statements in the comfort of their conference rooms and offices,” NCPDA members ministering in Makurdi Diocese say.

They remind both the Federal and State governments of their “constitutional mandate to safeguard the lives and dignity of all citizens. This is a sacred duty they swore to, and this must be pursued with urgency, sincerity, and transparency.”

“We remind the state and federal governments of their responsibility to provide water, housing, education, and freedom of worship, and security against all evil men and women,” the Catholic Priests add.

NCPDA members in Makurdi Diocese appeal for “immediate compensation to victims of this violence and the return of those displaced to their ancestral homes.”

They urge youths to be “prepared to defend their faith, their farmlands, and their way of life. The right to self-defence is an inalienable right for all citizens.”

“We are firmly committed to the truths of the gospel and shall do everything possible and necessary within the ambit of the law to resist any form of intimidation and threats to silence those speaking truth to power,” NCPDA members say.

They note that Makurdi Catholic Diocese has “always provided material and humanitarian assistance to victims of these attacks, but the Church has not been appreciated enough.”

“In these trying times, however, we entrust our people and land to the mercy of God while calling on all faithful to remain steadfast in prayer, courageous in truth, and unwavering in hope,” NCPDA members ministering in the Nigerian Episcopal See say in their collective statement published on June 1.