Yola, 19 August, 2025 / 6:45 pm (ACI Africa).
Bishop Stephen Dami Mamza of Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Yola has called upon young people across the country to resist all forms of manipulation that could turn them into agents of violence.
In an interview with ACI Africa on the sidelines of the Opening Mass of the Pre-National Youth Day 2025, which the Catholic Youth Organization of Nigeria (CYON) Jos Ecclesiastical Province organized, Bishop Mamza lamented the recurring trend of youths being mobilized to fight in political and communal crises and warned that their future is most at risk when they allow themselves to be used for destruction.
“Youths must refuse to be instruments of destruction. Do not make yourself available to be used for killing in your community. Life is sacred, and it is a gift from God. No one has the right to destroy it,” he said during the August 16 interview.
The Nigerian Catholic Bishop decried violent clashes in Nigeria’s Adamawa State and beyond, citing the recent crisis in Lamurde Local Government Area as a painful reminder of how quickly peace can be shattered when young people are lured into fighting.
“Whenever youths engage in violence, it is their own future that suffers most. Instead of being remembered as builders of peace and unity, they are remembered as destroyers. That is not what God wants for them,” he said.
