Roman Catholics Protest Killings Of Priests
Roman Catholics in seven states yesterday staged peaceful protests against the continued killings of innocent souls by herdsmen.
They called on the Federal Government to end indiscriminate killings of innocent citizens.
The protest is the first of its kind by the church in Nigeria and will be seen by observers as a sign of mounting discontent over government’s handling of alleged killings by herdsmen and armed bandits.
According to Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Alfred Adewale Martins, the protest is in solidarity with those killed in Benue State, including two catholic priests who were brutally murdered during an early-morning mass.
Martins stated that the protest is in line with the directive from the Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria that all catholic faithful partake in the exercise, in supplication to God for the killing of innocent souls in Benue, particularly the murder of two catholic priest and 19 others during mass.
Earlier, the Cardinal Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, in a statement, had rallied faithful, saying, “because of the barbaric killing of human beings in Nigeria, and erosion of the perception of life as sacred, and in union with the Diocese of Makurdi, Benue State, we want to express our deepest displeasure over the ugly happenings in our country and pray for the nation.”
The states where Catholics are confirmed to have trooped to the streets are Edo, Oyo, Benue, Lagos, Kaduna, Adamawa and Kwara.
Last month, members of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) took to the streets to protest the killing of their members by herdsmen.
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