At a press conference held this morning in Madrid by Aid to the Church in Need, the Archbishop of Abuja, Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, warned of the upsurge in violence against Christians in Nigeria and made an urgent appeal to the international community.
In recent months, the incessant attacks on several Christian communities in the north and center of the country, the massacre of 259 Christians in the village of Yelwata in June, the kidnapping of 265 pupils in a school in Papiri in November or of 172 people in Kaduna, among many other events, have put Christians in the country in an extreme situation. More than 200 priests have been abducted over the last decade as a result of the wave of violence ravaging the country.
The campaign “Sana Nigeria: let persecution not have the last word.” the essential role of the local Church and to provide support to the local church. The Catholic Church is working urgently so that it can continue to work for peace and stability and «restore hope to this country devastated by pain,» said José María Gallardo, director of ACN Spain. Faced with this dramatic situation, the Catholic Church works tirelessly to bring hope to its people exhausted by suffering. One of the main challenges is to prevent and heal the trauma caused by the attacks, kidnappings and assassinations.
International intervention
During his speech, the prelate valued the recent position of the United States government on the situation in his country, although he qualified its effects: “Today we have Donald Trump, who just recently started talking about this persecution and we say thank you.», although he adds that the reasons for persecuting Christians are not only religious.
Kaigama noted that although organizations such as ACN have been denouncing the situation for years, the involvement of political leaders in other countries has been limited: “Yes it's true that there are organizations like ACN and others who, over the years, have been talking about these problems, but it's not the leaders of nations, it's not the nations themselves that have been part of this.”.
Procuring consequences
However, he denounced that actions following the U.S. government's statements have had negative consequences on the ground: “At Christmas we received a ‘gift’: a bomb that fell on Nigerian soil, which I really couldn't say if it did any good.. That incident coupled with Donald Trump's words have greatly inflamed the passion of the Islamists out there in this territory.”.
The result, he said, has been a significant increase in violence: “The amount of attacks by Boko Haram and other military groups, the amount of killings, the amount of evil, has accelerated, has risen to a different level.”.
Finally, the archbishop launched a direct appeal for international cooperation: “This message goes to all the leaders of Western nations who benefit from Christianity, benefit from Christian culture. Help us fix what is happening.”.
The speech concluded with a clear call for sustained and coordinated support to stop the violence and protect Christian communities in Nigeria.
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