Priests, Fr. Alumuku said, “made a sacrifice of their lives for people. And so, anywhere in the world, when a Catholic Priest is kidnapped, it raises a lot of concern as to the safety of the citizens of such country.”
“When a Priest is kidnapped, people feel a sense of sorrow. So why would you go and take an innocent person? What have you done? So, it's giving a bad name to Nigeria. Sometimes I get calls from abroad, talking about the kidnapping of a priest in Nigeria, even before we hear about it here, which is so painful,” the Abuja-based Director of Social Communications of the Nigerian Metropolitan See told ACI Africa.
He called upon faith-based leaders in Africa’s most populous nation to raise their voices and advocate for increased security for Priests and communities of women and men Religious.
“Church leaders need to bring this conversation to the national stage. This is a national issue and it must be addressed to protect our Priests and maintain Nigeria’s image,” he said.
The member of the Clergy of Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Makurdi, where he was Ordained a Priest in 1981 went on to appeal to the country’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to address security challenges in the country amid a surge in kidnappings of Catholic Priests.
“I would like to call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure that the Priests kidnapped are released and that we work hard on ending these activities of kidnappers, banditry, and the menace of the herdsmen that is giving Nigeria a very bad image in the world is brought to an end,” Fr. Alumuku said.
President Tinubu, he recalled, “has vowed to tackle issues of kidnapping, banditry, and violence, but we need more than mere words; we need action to protect vulnerable Clergy members.”
Nigeria has been battling with a surge of violence orchestrated by gangs, whose members carry out indiscriminate attacks, kidnapping for ransom, and in some cases, killing.
Boko Haram insurgency has been a major challenge in the West African nation since 2009, a group that allegedly aims to turn Africa's most populous nation into an Islamic nation.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has witnessed a series of kidnappings that have targeted members of the Clergy.
