He adds in reference to those behind the Pentecost Sunday attack, “We call on the government to hunt them down and bring them to book. If the government fails to act decisively on such a grave matter, it would be encouraging the descent of anarchy on our nation.”
The Muhammadu Buhari-led government, he says, “should rise to its primary responsibility of securing the life and property of its citizens. The world is watching us! Above all, God is also watching us.”
Archbishop-elect Ugorji continues, “At this dark and trying time, we commiserate with the Diocese of Ondo and implore God to grant eternal rest to the dead, speedy recovery to the wounded and consolation to families mourning the death of their beloved ones.”
In a statement shared with ACI Africa June 5, the Director of Social Communications in Ondo Diocese confirmed the attack and said that the Local Ordinary, Bishop Jude Ayodeji Arogundade, is calling on the people of God under his pastoral care to “be law abiding”.
In another reaction to the Pentecost Sunday attack, officials of the Catholic Pontifical foundation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, express deep shock and say the incident is part of the “crimes against Christians” in the West African nation.
“ACN denounces this outburst of violence, yet another terrorist act in Nigeria, one more on the long list of crimes against Christians,” ACN officials say in the June 5 statement shared with ACI Africa.
They note that Nigeria in general has been “rocked by episodes of violence, banditry and kidnappings that, although affecting all ethnic and religious groups in the nation, have led to a long list of major attacks on the Christian community over the last few decades.”
“Just last week Aid to the Church in Need organized a press conference with Archbishop Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso, Archbishop of Kaduna, to speak about the insecurity and the violence in Nigeria,” ACN officials recall.
They continue, “Although the problems come from a variety of directions, Archbishop Matthew stated clearly: The government has failed us completely; it is the absence of good government that is causing this. Bandits, Boko Haram, kidnappings, these are all symptoms of injustice, of the corruption that is in the system. Unless we can get to the root of the issue, we will be fighting a losing battle.”
“The massacre took place in the southwest of Nigeria, a place that hasn’t been affected until now by the insecurity and violence which generally affect the north and the Middle Belt,” ACN officials further say.
