Ondo, 30 October, 2022 / 9:30 pm (ACI Africa).
A Nigerian Catholic Bishop has, in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, expressed his backing for a petition requesting that the United Kingdom (UK) government "call on their Nigerian counterparts to bring to justice those responsible for genocidal attacks” in the West African nation.
In the initiative dubbed “#RedWednesday Petition” ahead of ACN’s ‘Persecuted & Forgotten?’ report to be released on November 16, the Catholic charity highlights the Pentecost Sunday attack on St. Francis Xavier Owo Catholic Parish of Nigeria’s Ondo Diocese that left 39 worshippers killed and more than 80 injured “and countless other killings, abductions and other atrocities” as some of the “genocidal attacks” in Africa’s most populous nation.
In the petition, ACN wants the UK government to “demand the arrest and imprisonment of terrorists, the return of lands and villages, as well as compensation for the destruction of properties and livelihoods.”
In a report ACN published October 28, the Local Ordinary of Nigeria’s Ondo Diocese, Bishop Jude Ayodeji Arogundade, expresses support for the petition, and says that “a genocide is now taking place” in Nigeria.
“The petition that ACN (UK) is doing is very helpful,” Bishop Arogundade told the Catholic charity in the interview conducted on October 27, adding that thanks to the petition, “the world will become more aware of what is going on in Nigeria. The increased awareness will put the Nigerian authorities on their toes.”
