Abuja, 15 April, 2025 / 9:15 pm (ACI Africa).
In the face of a surge in cases of insecurity in Nigeria, including attacks, abductions, and killings, Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama of the country’s Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja has expressed his support for self-defense.
In an interview with ACI Africa on the sidelines of the celebration of Palm Sunday, April 13, Archbishop Kaigama described self-defense as a form of “natural justice” that saves one from “bloodthirsty criminals”.
“Self-defense is natural justice. How you defend yourself is important. You can't just sit there, and somebody comes to kill your family, and you say they are not protecting you. You must rise up and protect yourself and your communities against these bloodthirsty criminals,” he said.
The Nigerian Catholic Archbishop lamented the systemic breakdown in Nigeria that has forced citizens to provide essential services for themselves, saying, “In this country, you want water, you do your borehole. You want protection, you find a security guard. You want light, you find your electricity. You want good medicine, you pay for it in the hospital,”
“Everything is about the individual, and you wonder where the authorities are,” he further lamented, adding, “I urge our leaders to again look and see the situation, the insecurity that generates unnecessary bloodshed, and we pray that this will come to an end.
