CNS STORY: Bishops say Nigeria's inaction led to deaths during Islamic uprising

NIGERIA-BISHOPS Sep-15-2009 (420words) xxxi

Bishops say Nigeria's inaction led to deaths during Islamic uprising

By Peter Ajayi Dada
Catholic News Service

LAGOS, Nigeria (CNS) -- Nigeria's bishops said government inaction led to the untimely death of more than 2,000 people during the recent uprising by an extremist Islamic group, Boko Haram.

Despite government knowledge of plans for the violence "and despite reports made to appropriate authorities, inaction of government allowed the sect to destroy more than 2,000 lives before the insurrection was brought down," the bishops said in a statement at the end of their Sept 7-12 plenary meeting in Kafanchan.

"We have no democracy worth the name if government cannot protect life and property of the citizen," the bishops said. "Failure on the part of government to secure life and property of every Nigerian is less than commendable."

The Boko Haram sect opposes Western education and insists on the imposition of Shariah, or Islamic law. The uprising began in late July after the arrest of some of the sect's members.

In their statement, the bishops criticized the "culture of violence that prevails in Nigeria (including) kidnapping, armed robbery, dangerous driving on our roads, killing in the name of religion, to name but these."

"We condemn violence on whatever excuse or disguise, and from whatever direction. We condemn it, above all, when its perpetrators blasphemously and fraudulently claim religious justifications," the bishops said.

"We wish to note that those who claim that they love God while hating their fellow human beings, even to the extent of killing them, are liars," they said.

The bishops also commended the Nigerian government for the general amnesty it has granted to militants in the Niger Delta, where ethnic militias claiming to act on behalf of impoverished local residents have been accused of the kidnappings of oil workers, extortion, vandalism of oil facilities and the theft of crude oil.

The bishops advised the government to continue on the path of drastically improving the quality of life of the people of the region, stressing that government officials should not just wave an olive branch.

"The situation in the Niger Delta is deeply rooted in injustice. It is simply unjust to impoverish the people who live on the land that produces the bulk of Nigeria's wealth," the bishops said.

"We urge government to fulfill its promise on the development of the people of the Niger Delta and equally appeal to the militants to accept the amnesty," they said.

END

Copyright (c) 2009 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250