Let’s Advocate for Release of “repentant” Prisoners in Ongoing 2025 Jubilee Year: Catholic Official in Nigeria

Abuja, 18 July, 2025 / 8:20 PM

The ongoing Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year offers an opportunity for leaders to advocate for the release of “repentant” prisoners and bail out those “unjustly detained”, the Secretary General of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) has said.

In an interview with ACI Africa on the sidelines of the 2025 National Leadership Retreat for lay apostolate leaders and Chaplains, Fr. Michael Banjo underscored the need to be practical about the Jubilee Year.

“The Jubilee is a time of liberation, a time of mercy, a time when captives are set free and debts forgiven. It’s not just symbolic—it’s meant to be practical,” Fr. Banjo told ACI Africa on July 12.

As Church leaders, he said, “we must consider how to liberate these prisoners from captivity, both physically and spiritually.”

He lamented, “Thousands of inmates across Nigeria’s correctional facilities remain in prolonged detention, many without trial. The justice system struggles under the weight of inefficiency, lack of legal representation, and bureaucratic delays.”

“Some are jailed for petty offenses; others are victims of wrongful arrest—languishing for years in overcrowded, inhumane conditions,” he said.

Fr. Banjo urged Catholic communities to respond to this crisis with practical mercy, saying, “Let us advocate for the release of the repentant ones. And where possible, pay bail for those unjustly or unnecessarily detained. This is not only an act of mercy; it’s a gospel imperative.”

The Secretary General called upon Church leaders in Parishes, apostolic groups, and other relevant Catholic institutions to consult legal professionals within their communities to aid in the process of security pardon and bailing out inmates. 

“There are lawyers in your midst; let us consult them,” he appealed, and emphasized, “It is about freeing some of those prisoners who are truly repentant and can be free.”

The CSN official went on to decry the harsh realities in Nigeria’s correctional facilities, including overcrowding, poor sanitation, lack of medical care, and food shortages among other challenges that he described as a “humanitarian crisis unfolding behind walls that most of us choose not to see.”

Fr. Banjo lauded Catholic lay movements for their ongoing prison apostolate, citing the Knights of St. Mulumba Nigeria. He also acknowledged with appreciation the Knights of St. John International Nigeria. The latter, he said, had already launched a program responding to his earlier call. 

“This is what we want—action rooted in love, in justice, and practical mercy,” he said.

In the July 12 interview, the Nigerian Catholic Church official noted that that securing the release of “repentant” inmates alone is not sufficient. 

“You free someone, but if they have no job, no support, no direction, they’re likely to fall back into the same cycle. It’s not enough to say ‘Go in peace’; we must also say, ‘Here is how to live in peace,’” Fr. Banjo said.

He encouraged lay apostolate groups to study successful reintegration models and collaborate with organizations to provide long-term support, adding, “This is how we build a Church that is truly responsive to the needs of society.”

Extending his concern beyond prison walls, the Nigerian Catholic Priest also drew attention to the suffering of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in violence-hit regions such as Benue, Plateau, and Kaduna States. 

“Entire families have fled with nothing—not even a blanket. The Church cannot be indifferent to their suffering,” he said, and challenged Catholic lay groups to mobilize humanitarian support, including food, clothing, shoes, and money to be channelled through affected dioceses. 

“Compassion must be lived, not just preached,” Fr. Banjo emphasized in the July 12 interview on the sidelines of the 2025 National Leadership Retreat for lay apostolate leaders and Chaplains.

He expressed the hope that the Jubilee retreat will serve as a spiritual and apostolic turning point for the Church in Nigeria. 

“Let this Jubilee Retreat mark a renewed commitment to justice, mercy, and national healing. Let it ignite in us a new apostolic courage grounded in faith and guided by wisdom,” the member of the Clergy of Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Ijebu Ode told ACI Africa.

Also speaking to ACI Africa at the same event, the Director of the Pastoral Agents Department at CSN, Fr. Augustine Okochi, highlighted internal threats weakening the Catholic lay apostolate in the West African nation that is Africa’s most populous country.

Fr. Okochi identified secularism, materialism, and a culture of personal ambition as major challenges. He said, “These are not abstract threats. They’ve infiltrated even our religious associations. The spiritual ideals we once held sacred are being undermined by an obsession with wealth, status, and worldly success.”

Fr. Okochi noted that these pressures lead to internal conflict, especially when misconduct such as fraud or embezzlement is met with tribalism and sectionalism instead of accountability. 

“Unity in truth is what we need—not unity built on sentiment,” he said.

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Fr. Okochi also raised concern over a lack of spiritual formation among Catholic youths, who he said are increasingly distracted by online content and disconnected from faith real communities. 

“If we don’t invest in them, we will lose the next generation of Catholics,” he warned, and as a way forward, called for frequent retreats, educational workshops, and mentorship programs that target youths as primary beneficiaries.

For him, “A Church that neglects its youth is preparing for spiritual collapse.”

Meanwhile, the Acting National President of the Catholic Laity Council of Nigeria (CLCN), Barrister Mathias Braimo, called for accountability, transparency, and sustainability within Church associations and wider society.

“If we cannot account for our resources and be transparent, then our members cannot trust us. Financial mismanagement destroys structures and erodes credibility,” Barr. Braimo told ACI Africa on July 12.