Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso of Kaduna in Hawaii.
Photo: CNS Faith communities in Nigeria face daily violence and persecution, a US-based rights group said. It called for US intervention after a terrorist group executed five men abducted while providing assistance in northeastern Nigeria.
While Christians, particularly preachers, “are clearly the targets” of militants in the West African country, Muslims are killed too, said Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso of Kaduna, who chairs the bishops’ committee on justice, development and peace.
Nigeria has suffered more than 10 years of killings, abductions, and other abuses by armed Islamist groups. In the hardest-hit northeast region of the country, tens of thousands of people have been killed and about two million displaced.
With abductions commonplace along Nigeria’s roads, people are terrified to use them to go about their daily business, Archbishop Ndagoso told Catholic News Service on July 29.
“Mass burials have become very common,” he said.