Cross of the Martyrs. / Aaron Groote via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).According to a worldwide Catholic organization, more political and religious figures around the world should speak out against the attack on a Catholic church in Nigeria that reportedly killed at least 50 people.
The “Pentecost massacre” on June 5 at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, in southwestern Nigeria, was denounced by the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need as “another terrorist act in Nigeria, one more on the long list of crimes against Christians.”
“Aid to the Church in Need calls on all political and religious leaders in the world to firmly and explicitly condemn this terrorist attack,” the charity said in a statement.
Nigeria has “been rocked by episodes of violence, banditry, and kidnappings that, while affecting all ethnic and religious groups in the country, have led to a long record of major attacks on the Christian community over the previous few decades,” according to ACN spokesperson Maria Lozano.
According to CNA’s African news partner, ACI Africa, gunmen fired at Catholic worshippers attending Pentecost celebrations on June 5 and detonated explosives.
According to a local doctor, the gunmen, whose identities are unknown, killed at least 50 people, according to Reuters. The total number of casualties has yet to be announced by state police.
According to ACN, the insecurity and violence in southwestern Nigeria had not been as severe as it had been in Nigeria’s north and middle belt regions.
ACN noted that until now southwestern Nigeria had not been as affected by the insecurity and violence, which have taken place mostly in Nigeria’s north and Middle Belt regions.
“Nowhere seems to be safe again in our country; not even the sacred precincts of a Church,” Bishop Lucius Ugorji said.
The president of the Nigerian Catholic bishops’ conference, Ugorji, condemned “the shedding of innocent blood in the House of God” in the strongest possible terms.
“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,” he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari and other elected authorities, the Catholic priest said, must “rise to its main obligation of securing the lives and property of its inhabitants.””
“The world is watching us! Above all, God is also watching us,” he added.
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