Killing in Nigeria “no longer serious matter, life has become so cheap”: Christian Leaders

Fatima, who has also been referred to as Harira Jubril, was visiting her sister-in-law together with her children when IPOB attacked. 

IPOB is a nationalist separatist group that aims to restore the Republic of Biafra, a country which seceded from Nigeria before the 1967 to 1970 Nigerian Civil War and later rejoined Nigeria after its defeat by the Nigerian military.

In the May 24 statement, Pastor Hayab says CAN members, who include representatives of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), have read about the Anambra killings "with sadness and disappointment about how evil activities have expanded in our country while good people are divided and silent." 

He says CAN cannot keep quiet when evil is destroying the West African nation, adding that the sufferings of some Nigerians affect the entire country.  

“We all must know that when there is an injury to one then that injury is to all and evil only triumphs when good people keep quiet and look the other way,” says the CAN Kaduna chairman. 

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The CAN official calls on the Nigerian government to investigate and act to ensure the increased criminal activities in the country come to an end. 

He says, “Until our government and our law enforcement agencies go after all criminals and murderers and justice is seen to have been done on all murderers, this evil will not stop and the murderers will not see their crime as evil."

He criticizes the government of giving a wide berth to the rampant killings in Nigeria saying, “they will smartly make us fight amongst ourselves and pay less attention to the crime." 

Pastor Hayab says CAN will continue to "preach peace, pray for peace, and speak truth to power and against every wrongdoing in Kaduna State and Nigeria as a whole.”

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.