Insecurity: Catholic Bishop Laments Killing Of Priests, Says Buhari Helpless

By James Orji

Rev. Peter Chukwu, the Catholic Bishop of Abakaliki Diocese, says President Muhammadu Buhari has become helpless in the face of insecurity pervading the country.

He said the country is gradually being Islamised under the watch of President Buhari.

The catholic bishop spoke on the back of the abduction of 36 persons in Ondo state by suspected terrorists. The abductees were coming from a burial ceremony when they were kidnapped by the criminals who are still at large, on the border between the state and Edo state.

In Zamfara state, suspected bandits are said to have been forcing their victims to work on their farms.

Not a few Nigerians insist that President Buhari as commander in chief is not hard enough on the criminals who currently have a swathe of the country’s land under their control.

Responding to Nigerians’ worry over worsening insecurity two days ago, the Minister of Communication and National Orientation, Lai Mohammed said the government has tackled the problem headlong, saying the administration is in “the last stage’ of ending the problem.

Speaking on Monday after the inauguration of the Catholic Media Practitioners Association, CAMPAN, Ebonyi State branch, the bishop said the president has become helpless.

The clergyman said the situation has become so worrisome in the sense that the bandits now target men of God.

Many Nigerians, he said have lost confidence in the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress to tackle the problem.

The bishop said: “We have lost so many Priests in the North and also in the southeast and it is so worrisome but I am not surprised because Priests and Prophets are always the victims of persecution throughout church history.

“It shows what the Priests represent and stand for, and what we preach is pricking them in their conscience, and instead of repenting, they decided to fight back by killing, kidnapping, torturing, and destroying our churches.

“But I am consoled by the statement of Christ in Matthew 16 vs 35 that no gates of the underworld shall ever prevail against the church. The church comes out strong when you push it to the wall.

“It will be unfair to say that the church as a body has compromised. Many individuals who work for the church and feel that they are very friendly to the government are no longer holding the government accountable but if you listen to what is preached in the different dioceses, you will see that no Priest is comfortable when any government is not doing what it is supposed to do for the masses and we are also vocal about it and we are always critical about it.

“But we want to be constructive in our criticisms; no Priest who has been well trained can feel comfortable in the face of all the terrible things that have been happening around.

“When Buhari was campaigning for the Presidency, he was coming with his credentials as a former military leader who was an anti-corruption crusader who did not tolerate any corruption or nonsense.

“They promised to nip in the bud, all cases of Boko Haram attacks. Unfortunately, when he took power, he failed to prosecute those people using him to Islamize Nigeria and that is why the government is helpless to combat the problems.

“If you look closely, you will see that all the leaders of our security apparatus are from the core Fulani North. It has never been like that in the history of Nigeria.

“There is an imbalance in the appointments of the Leaders of the security architecture. It is so lopsided that they will always execute their agenda without much opposition.

“Come to think of it again, a lot of people have lost their voices because what you say will come after you but despite that, rational people are very uncomfortable with what is going on. It is unfortunate.  We have lost faith in the current government to restore security.

“What we are praying for is a peaceful, free, and fair election that will usher in God’s chosen leaders who will solve the problems of this country, and if that problem is not solved, the continued existence of Nigeria as a corporate entity is under a very serious question mark.”