NCDPA officials say, “It is no longer news that more than ever before, our dear country, Nigeria, is now going through the worst kind of insecurity in history. And amongst the varied manifestations of this anomaly is the attack on the Catholic Church in Nigeria, with emphasis on her Priests and lay faithful.”
According to the Pontifical charity Foundation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, at least 18 Catholic Priests have been kidnapped in Nigeria since the beginning of 2022.
ACN says five Clerics were abducted in the first week of July alone. Although most were released unharmed, three were killed.
In their July 9 statement, NCDPA officials say, “We are aware of the pains in the hearts of our Bishops, brother Priests, families, parishioners, friends and other well-wishers as regards the kidnappings and gruesome murdering of Priests and lay faithful across the country.”
They further say that the pleas of many people, including members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), have urged the government to protect lives but the these pleas remain unheeded.
“There is indeed ‘trouble in the land’ and it requires some serious response and approach,” NCDPA officials say.
They underscore the need for Priests to remain faithful to their calling and ministry amid cases of abductions and killings of members of their colleagues.
“We are Priests – witnesses and ambassadors for Christ. We are neither terrorists nor war-troupe. We were called and sent to be ministers to all the nations, that is, Christian and non-Christian territories,” officials of the forum of Catholic Diocesan Priests in Nigeria say.
“Our ministerial journey consists in the proclamation of the word of God, and the celebration of the Holy Eucharist as a memorial of Christ and His mission on earth,” they further say, adding, “This implies that we carry along with us the Holy Books and not weapons.”
“Christ never encouraged us to raise arms against anybody (John 18:11) nor take up any action in vengeance,” NCDPA officials say.
