Nigeria’s church leaders are concerned about renewed suicide attacks

YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – Church leaders in Nigeria are deeply alarmed by the recent resumption of suicide attacks in the country.

On June 29, suspected female suicide bombers carried out coordinated attacks on a wedding, a hospital and a funeral in Gwoza, Borno State in northeastern Nigeria. Gwoza is a neighboring town of Chibok, where insurgents kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in 2014.

The first attack occurred during a wedding reception when a woman with a baby on her back detonated a bomb, tragically killing herself, the baby and five other people.

The second woman detonated her bomb at a checkpoint when she was stopped by the military for an inspection. A third explosion occurred in a hospital and the fourth during a Muslim prayer for the victims of the first explosion.

The death toll is shocking: at least 30 people lost their lives in these attacks and dozens more were injured.

In response to these events, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), which includes the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, issued a statement condemning the attacks. The statement, signed by its president, Archbishop Daniel Okoh of Christ Holy Church International, expressed deep concern over the renewed increase in suicide attacks and stressed the need for collective action to combat terrorism.

“The national leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is deeply concerned about the recent suicide attacks in Gwoza, Borno State, which left scores dead and many more injured. We are concerned about the resumption of suicide attack in our country and the threat it poses to the lives and livelihoods of Nigerians,” Okoh said in the statement.

“This senseless act of violence is a stark reminder of the evil that terrorism is and the need for collective action to defeat it,” he added.

He praised the security forces for their efforts to contain the terrorist threat in Nigeria and encouraged them to continue to fight to ensure that the country does not fall back into the “dark days of suicide attacks”.

“We must not let our guard down because the situation could escalate and affect not only the lives of innocent people but also places of worship and other large gatherings,” Okoh said.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu condemned the attacks as “desperate acts of terrorism” and claimed they were an “isolated incident”.

But Africa’s most populous country has been fighting jihadist terrorism since 2009. That was when Boko Haram began its murder campaign with the aim of establishing a caliphate in the African country with over 200 million inhabitants, who are divided almost evenly between the predominantly Christian south and the Muslim north.

There is little information about who was the target of the recent attacks, but Boko Haram’s main goal is to impose the strictest form of Islam while decimate Christianity. And their Islamization project is now supported by other anti-Christian terrorist organizations, such as the Fulani herdsmen.

According to the Catholic-inspired non-governmental organization International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, Intersociety, more than 52,200 Christians have been killed in Nigeria between 2009, when Boko Haram began its murderous campaign, and 2022.

The numbers have risen significantly. And the latest attacks come at a time when anger is growing in Nigeria over the US State Department’s failure to designate Nigeria as a country of special concern. This should have put Nigeria in a difficult position, as it is considered a serious violator of religious freedom under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998.

“There is no denying that the victims of insecurity and terrorism in the country are followers of Christianity, Islam and other religions,” said Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja.

The leading Nigerian archbishop said core “It is important to note that Christians have borne the brunt of the violence in a spectacular way.”

He noted that “the most blatant violations of religious freedom are particularly evident in the north of the country.”

“In Nigeria, we continue to witness deteriorating conditions for religious freedom, including mass violence, killings and the enforcement of blasphemy laws. Blasphemy laws encourage brutal mob violence and inflict grave harm on Muslim minorities, Christian converts and others,” Kaigama said. core.

He said that Christian minorities in some predominantly Muslim states in the north “had been living under extremely difficult conditions” even before the introduction of Sharia law.

The archbishop said that far more Nigerians were being killed in the notorious conflicts between herders and farmers, with Christians bearing the brunt.

“Most of the killings were carried out by militant herdsmen, who largely acted with impunity,” Kaigama said. core.

“The government has paid only lip service to the abductions, kidnappings and murders of many Christians and has not paid sufficient attention to them. So far, the government’s response to these acts of violence and human rights violations has been weak at best and negligent at worst. There is a fear that the situation could deteriorate further if this sad situation is not nipped in the bud,” he said.

The Archbishop then called on Nigerians to persuade their government to change its behavior regarding religious freedom, as it embodies all other freedoms.

“Religious freedom, like the right to life, liberty, freedom of movement, assembly and association, and freedom of expression, is a fundamental right guaranteed in the Constitution, which the President and state governors have sworn to uphold. Without it, democracy is empty. The government must wean itself off religious abuses and then protect those persecuted from non-state actors,” he said.