President Muhammadu Buhari Nigeria’s bishops have condemned repeated killings of innocent Nigerians by suspected ethnic militias in northeastern Nigeria and said President Muhammadu Buhari should resign if he can’t keep the country safe.
The bishops condemned the murder of two priests and their parishioners during the celebration of Mass, at St Ignatius Catholic Church in Ayer Mbalom. Attackers burned dozens of houses, nearly destroying the small community.
It was the latest in a string of violent incidents involving nomadic herdsmen and farmers with violence linked to grazing rights and dwindling fertile land. Benue state, where the incident occurred, has seen nearly 50 such attacks in the last three years.
The bishops issued their statement from Rome, where they were making a scheduled visit to the Vatican, and said they received the news of the “ gruesome, grisly and dastardly murder” with “deep shock, sorrow and utter horror”.
“These innocent souls met their untimely death in the hands of a wicked and inhumane gang of the rampaging and murderous terrorists, who have turned the vast lands of the middle belt and other parts of Nigeria into a massive graveyard,” the bishops said.
Mayhem
They said the unrestrained mayhem had become a metaphor for the untimely deaths that had now become the fate of many of Nigerian citizens.
“That our two priests, Fr Joseph Gor and Fr Felix Tyolaha, along with their parishioners were waylaid in the course of the celebration of the Holy Mass early in the morning suggests very clearly that their murder was carefully planned,” the bishops said. Nineteen people were killed in the attack.
They said recent events showed Nigerians no longer could trust Buhari. They mentioned the repeated calls from them and many other Nigerians, asking the president to take drastic and urgent steps to reverse the violence.
“It is clear to the nation that he has failed in his primary duty of protecting the lives of the Nigerian citizens,” the bishops said.
“Whether this failure is due to his 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,” they said.