Killer-herders and Catholics’ day of fury

The killing of two priests and 17 other worshippers at a Catholic Church in Ayar-Mbalom Village of Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue state last month by suspected herdsman sparked outrage across the country. The Catholic church on Tuesday staged a nation-wide peaceful protest as the herders’ victims were being buried calling for a stop to the bloodshed. In this report TOPE SUNDAY captures the significances of the protest.

On May 13, 2018, the Catholic church in Nigeria announced plans to hold a nation-wide peaceful protest against killings in Benue and other states. The announcement said the protest scheduled for May 22, said the protest would hold simultaneously with burial of the two Catholic priests, Joseph Gor, and Felix Tyolaha, and the 17 parishioners murdered by suspected herdsmen, during Morning Mass on April 24.

The protest, the church said was conceptualised by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), as a platform to ventilate the Church’s anger.

The call came less than a month after the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had called for a national day to protest against unending killings and bloodshed in the country. In a statement, CAN President Olasupo Ayokunle, urged Christians to hold the peaceful protests within their church premises on Sunday, April 29, 2018.

Last Tuesday, From Abuja to Lagos, including Kaduna and other parts of the country, the clergy and laity answered the call without incident. Simultaneously, Vice president Yemi Osinbajo was attending the burial of the priests in Benue state. Osinbajo, after promising to apprehend the culprits, had advocated for the rebuilding of the nation’s security architecture for greater efficiency.

Abuja: An all Christians affair

In Abuja, hundreds of Christians first gathered at the National Christian Center for a requiem mass in honour of the deceased, before taking to the streets. Speaking during the sermon, Bishop Umorem, who led the protest, expressed disgust over the many lives that have been lost to attacks by suspected herdsmen across the country.

He said that security operatives and all charged with protecting lives and property must remember that they would be held accountable for their action and inaction.

Umorem stressed that no human has power to take life, which is the most precious gift of God, as contained in the Bible and the constitution too.
While calling on government to wake up to the sacred responsibility of protecting lives and property, he urged prayers for the perpetrators of the killings to change because God doesn’t want any soul to be lost, however, “they will answer to God if they don’t change,” he said.

Also, speaking during the mass shortly before the protest, Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Nickolas Okoh, said although Nigerians from every religion “have been dealt a heavy blow by the herdsmen, Nigerians will not surrender their country for any reason”. According to him, ‘’we are aware that Muslims, Christians and even unbelievers have been killed by these people. This is a psychological warfare and we must not be intimidated.’’ He lamented the poor handling of the situation by the government and called on leaders “especially at the centre to do their best to protect the people.”

Okoh recalled that “when the government came to power, we hoped that everybody will be part and parcel of the government. Soon enough it became clear that it was a rhetoric. Government should try to keep its own part by protecting the people not a section of the country. Not some individuals.’’

The primate said that the military can arrest the security threat ‘’if given the right facilities to fish out the perpetrators of this act. Take away arms from killers and people will sleep well.’’

Similarly, representative of CAN President, Director, National Issues and Social Welfare, Bishop S.T. Adegbite, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign from office “if he is unable to fulfill his duty of protecting the people.”

He pointed out that the president promised to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria but has not done so. “People who are killing us are not invisible. They are human beings. They should be arrested and prosecuted,” he said.

Protest grounds Lagos

In Lagos, the mass protest paralysed commercial activities, human and vehicular movements in some parts of the state. The rally which started at about 10am, grounded activities in Ikeja, Opebi, Oregun, Adeniyi Jones, Allen avenue, Alausa Secretariat and the ever-busy Awolowo way.
Largely, the protesters were solemn in but some were quite agitated. Others carried placards with sundry inscriptions, including “Life is Sacred”, “No Justice, No Peace”, “Give our youths jobs not guns”, “Enough of this madness”, “Federal Government, arrest and prosecute killers.”

In an open letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari, the church decried what it called, “deep displeasure over the incessant killings and general insecurity being experienced across the length and breadth of our dear country”. The letter, which was signed Alfred Adewale Martins, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, asked the president to act as a matter of urgency. According to the letter, Buhari should “put to rest all the insinuations being pandered all over about you. We reiterate that our call for your urgent intervention is borne out of our deep patriotism and desire to save the country from imminent crisis that could snowball into ethnic, tribal or religious war.’’

In the end, the protesters massed at Lagos State House, Alausa, where they submitted the letter to the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Civic Engagement, Mr Adeyemi Olabinjo. After addressing them, Olabinjo promised to hand the letter over to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, for onward submission to Buhari.

Christians, Muslims pray for peace in Kaduna

In Kaduna, the rally kicked off from Saint Augustine’s Catholic Church, Mahuta in Chikun local government area of the state, with unprecedented crowd comprising largely of Catholics and Protestants and some Muslims. Speaking shortly after the rally, the Vicar General Administration, Kaduna Archdiocese, Reverend Father Bulus Karis Lukas lamented that human life is under direct attack, from abortion to killer herdsmen, in Nigeria. In addition, he said that the value of human life is being threatened by poverty, unemployment, lack of social amenities, corruption and bad government policies. Reverend Father Lukas who represented the Archbishop of Kaduna, Most Revered Dr. Matthew Man’oso Ndagoso, further said that societal fabric is being torn apart by a culture of violence that leaves children dead on the streets and families afraid in their homes while our society seems to be growing numb to human loss and suffering.

According to the Archbishop, the rally was held to protest the continuous killings in the country, ‘’and in solidarity with every family who has lost a dear one in these unfortunate circumstances, irrespective of creed, tribe, religion or political affiliation.’’ In addition, the protest provided the avenue “for all men and women of goodwill to express our deepest displeasure with the current state of the nation and to pray to God for peace in the country and to appeal to whoever is responsible, to stop the killing in Nigeria.’’

Ndagoso urged government at all level to wake up to its responsibility of protecting the life of every Nigerian irrespective of creed, tribe or political affiliation. According to him, ‘’we are here as citizens of this great country to ask our government to wake up to its responsibility.’’

In his remark, the representative of Zazzau Emirate and District Head of Barnawa, Alhaji Kabiru Zubairu prayed that as ‘’we carry out the exercise during the Islamic fasting period, God will grant us peace in Kaduna, Nigeria and the world at large.” Similarly, representative of the Chairperson of CAN and Arewa Peoples Unity Association, Bishop Simon Thomas also called for continued prayers for unity of Nigeria.

Osinbajo mourns victims, promises to stop killings

At the mass burial for the slain victims of the attack on the Catholic parish, the killing that triggered the protests, Vice-President Osinbajo promised to halt the bloodshed in the country. Osinbajo who conveyed President Buhari’s condolence message, lamented that attacks on places of worship has become one too many. In addition, the vice president condemned that killing of the worshippers, saying the killers only killed the flesh but could never “touch the spirit that belongs to God.” Osinbajo further said that the killers gained nothing other than causing grief to the family, friends and the entire country. In spite of the dead, Osinbajo argued, it behooves the government to provide succour and comfort for those that were left behind. According to him, “we can ensure justice for them by apprehending and punishing the assailants. We must rebuild the many places that have been damaged and heal the wounds that have been caused.’’

In addition, he said that government must rebuild and revamp the nation’s “security system to ensure that all that live and work in this land are safe.’’ The vice president pointed out that Nigerians, irrespective of their creed and backgrounds, have been angered and outraged by these killings. He said that the bitterness and anguish of the families of the deceased are palpable. “We all see it and we all feel it and it is impossible to look around here today and not be deeply saddened by the faces of so many who have lost their loved ones,” Osinbajo further said. Osinbajo, who was accompanied to the event by the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, condoled with the Catholic Church and prayed that God will build His church in the state, saying that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

In his remarks, Governor Samuel Ortom said that that was the third time that Benue state was conducting a mass burial. He revealed that 492 people had been killed by herdsmen since the beginning of the year. Ortom, who again expressed shock at the murder of the worshipers, asked, “what was the offence of the priests and the parishioners?’’ The governor further asked, ‘’what kind of nation are we, which direction are we heading?’’ He said that Nigeria should be a country where there is freedom of worship. Ortom also promised that ‘’the blood of these priests will not go in vain, their death will mark stability of the nation, and we will not stop crying until justice is achieved. We have an unbroken spirit to adhere to the anti-open grazing law.”

Officiating at the mass funeral service, Cardinal John Onayeikan, Archbishop of the Abuja Archdiocese, condemned the killings in the state and the country in general in whatever form. According to him, the nation now needs a state of emergency. The cardinal accused the government of not doing enough to protect lives of people of the country.

CAN’s ‘indoor’ protests

On April 28, CAN had directed Christians of all denominations to hold peaceful protests within the premises of their churches, asking the federal government and the security agencies to stop the unending killings and bloodshed in the country. Specifically, CAN President Ayokunle asked them to carry placards with inscriptions meant to address the sustained killings, attacks and destruction of their property in Nigeria. In a statement, he had suggested that the inscriptions could read, “Enough of bloodshed in Nigeria”, “Enough of unlawful killings in the country”, “FG, Release Leah Sharibu from the bondage”, “FG, Stop Herdsmen Killings”, “CAN rejects FG’s poor handling of insecurity.”

At that time, CAN had appealed to Buhari to evolve effective ‘’plans aimed towards disarming herdsmen across the northern states and in communities where they have been wreaking havoc across the country in national interest.’’ In addition, the association also called on the heads of the security agencies to wake up to their constitutional role of protecting lives and property and to prevent Nigeria from descending into a chaotic and lawless country.

The statement also recalled “with pains, disappointments, and worries how Nigerians in the North East, Middle Belt and southern parts of Nigeria become visibly endangered with sustained attacks from Boko Haram, herders and armed bandits.’’ According to the Christian body, such attacks are not only inimical to the progress of Nigeria, they will continue to weaken the unity of the country if left unchecked.

ECWA disobeys CAN’s directive

Significantly, not all Christian dominations heeded to CAN’s protest last April. In particular, the National President of the Evangelical Church Winning All(ECWA), Dr. Jeremiah Gado, had distanced the church from the protest, saying those who participated “are on their own.”
According to Gado, “ECWA is not answerable to CAN” and that his church and the Chairman of CAN in Plateau State, Mr Soja Bewarang, had decided to opt for prayers and not protest. The ECWA president hinged his dissent on poor communication and coordination. He said that ‘’had we been properly consulted, we would have supported and come out enmasse.’’

Gado further said that the protest was against the killings by suspected herdsmen but “we in ECWA are bothered by the killings.’’
On the contrary, ECWA was more concerned about the release of Leah Sharibu, the female student of Government Science and Technical College Dapchi that is still in captivity. For this reason, the church had declared April 27 to 29, 2018, as days of prayer and fasting for Ms Sharibu’s release, when CAN issued a press statement, calling for protest.

There is a consensuses among Nigerians across ethnic lines, Christians and Muslims alike, on the need to put an end to killings across the country, going forward it is expected that government would go extra miles in meeting its constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and property.

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