Insecurity, neo-paganism, others worry Catholic Bishops

The Catholic Bishops of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province have stated their worry over the resort to neo-paganism by Nigerians, worsening Insecurity, 2023 elections with many pitfalls, sit-at-home and the south-east and moving beyond the present precipice among others.

In a communiqué, they issued after their meeting at Umuahia Diocesan Secretariat, Wednesday, where they described the year, 2023 as a rough year for Nigerians, noting, “The year 2023 started with the promise of a fresh start for our nation, especially with the transition to a new democratic dispensation.

Thus far, that promise has not come to fruition. Over the last couple of months, Nigerians have continued to battle poverty, misery, high cost of living, and inflationary pressures exacerbated by the ripple effects of government policies”.

According to the communique signed by the chairman of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev. Lucious Ugorji, the Archbishop of Owerri and Secretary, Most Rev. Augustine N. Echema, Bishop of Aba, and read by the Catholic Bishop of Umuahia, Most Rev. Michael Kalu Ukpong, the Bishops expressed their shock over “the controversial Naira redesign policy that crippled businesses and made life and access to one’s own funds so difficult for many”, removal of the subsidy on petroleum, the Central Bank of Nigeria unification of all segments of the foreign exchange market as part of efforts to engender transparency in the markets and boost investors’ confidence, the ugly sight of our people toiling under excruciating economic conditions is not only frightening but heartbreaking, though the Federal Government has announced a series of “palliative” measures to mitigate the impact of these policies.

They also noted that “in the midst of these hard economic realities, Nigerians have seen their freedom to move about and hustle for their daily needs hampered by rising insecurity that has led to scores of deaths of innocent citizens, members of the security personnel, traditional rulers, priests and religious, elected officials and government workers. The number of violent crimes such as kidnappings, ritual killings, carjacking, ethnic clashes, armed banditry and the like, has increased and become commonplace experiences in the different parts of the country”.

The communique further stated, “To say the least, the 2023 Presidential, National Assembly and Gubernatorial elections had many pitfalls. Many people had trusted the repeated assurances by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deliver a credible electoral process, namely, to come up with an impartial standard for screening candidates, to organize the logistics for conducting free and fair elections, to transmit voting results electronically from polling stations in real-time, to eliminate cases of ballot stuffing and vote stealing, etc.

“Sadly, the electoral process was riddled with irregularities. INEC and some of the political actors dashed the hopes of our people. Consequently, the results of the last elections can hardly be considered as reflecting the overall will of the people, and are still being contested. And this continues to darken the cloud of uncertainty and tension that has enveloped the nation. The hope, at the moment, is that the judiciary will rise up to the challenge and rescue our ailing democratic experiment.

“We can no longer close our eyes to the indiscriminate sit-at-home orders in the South-East that have so far disrupted lives, paralyzing economic, educational and commercial activities. In the past, we had called on our people to sheathe their swords and come together to agree on the way forward for our region. We want to repeat this appeal again with more urgency.

“The resort to violence can never be condoned, nor can it be expected to bring any lasting solution to the needs of our people. The South-East is extolled as the commercial hub of the nation. Unfortunately, traders in the region today are compelled to stay at home on Mondays, usually the busiest day of the week and the most productive for some. The damage to our local economies, and to the culture and mental health of our people, can never be fully quantified”.

The Bishops lamented over what they called the “alarmed rate at which our young people are relapsing into neo-paganism. They are lured into fetish rituals in their quest for money, demonic powers and false assurances of protection. In the same neo-pagan spirit, some even create their own rituals and cults with the similar intent to intimidate others, and as a cover for other criminal activities, using the cover of the revival of our traditional religion and culture, some of our intellectuals are attacking Christianity as if Christianity is the cause of our present woes. Unfortunately, this cannot be a way forward for our youths and our society.

“In the face of these disheartening events, experiences and challenges, we cannot throw up our hands and surrender to despair. In fact, we still see several lines of encouragement and hope to build upon. We saw during this year’s election the emergence of altruistic, patriotic Nigerians across different ethnic and religious affiliations, yearning for and demanding a better Nigeria for all of us on the basis of equity, justice and peace”.

“As your spiritual leaders, we still call upon all the good-willed and patriotic citizens of Nigeria to continue to work for the common good of all Nigerians on that same note of equity, justice and peace. With a critical mass of caring and concerned citizens, we can overcome our present pains and liabilities, and move Nigeria forward to a better and healthier nation than it presently is. We urge all Nigerians, in their various callings and positions, to uphold the banner of integrity and good action for a new Nigeria”.

They pleaded with every Nigerian “to become an agent of peace and security in his or her environment while cooperating with the genuine community and official efforts to secure our people and our environment. Likewise, we challenge our people in the southeast to recognize that we are members of one extensive family known for hard work and professionalism in different spheres of life, learning and trade. Let us therefore restore normalcy to our market days and weeks, and put an end to the sit-at-home syndrome that is ruining our lives and communities”.

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