Yemisi Izuora
Nigeria’s Catholic Bishops have warned that election violence and killings poses serious threat to the nation’s existence as a corporate entity.
The bishops, under the aegis of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), stated this in a communiqué issued at the end of their First Plenary Meeting in Abuja.
The communiqué was endorsed by Most Rev. Augustine Obiora Akubeze, Archbishop of Benin City, CBCN President, and Most Rev. Camillus Raymond Umoh, Bishop of Ikot-Ekpene, CBCN Secretary.
The bishops sad they were pained that the culture of death was being embedded into the nation’s daily life.
“This persistent devaluation of human life and property poses an existential threat to our personal survival and that of our nation. How can government continue to appear helpless in the face of such shameful tragedy?
“We strongly appeal to the President, in collaboration with the Governors of Kaduna State and other affected States to seriously take steps to arrest this drift before total anarchy and mayhem consume the entire nation,” they noted.
The bishops therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari and governors of the affected states to rise up to their constitutional responsibility of securing the lives and properties of the citizens.
On the recent general elections, the CBCN commended the voters for their patriotism and maturity and urged president those who felt cheated to seek redress in court and that such people should not be discouraged from doing so.
“The 2019 General Elections have come and gone except in some areas where the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled supplementary elections for specified reasons.
“We commend our people for the patriotism and the maturity displayed, and the electorate who in some places came out en masse especially during the Presidential and National Assembly Elections to exercise their rights and perform their civic duties.
“We equally note the voter apathy that characterized the subsequent Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections. We believe that this apathy may not have been unconnected with among other things, the violence, malpractice and the unnecessary militarization of the process, all of which contributed to eroding the people’s confidence in the electoral process.
“We have taken note of those who have been declared winners, and commend the civility of those who rejected the results but have chosen to express their grievances through legitimate means under the law rather than through violence.
“Whatever the outcome, justice must be seen to have been done. We admonish whoever holds power at the end of the day to remember that power belongs to God and to Him alone. God demands strict accountability for how anyone takes power and uses it, for God cannot be deceived or challenged (Lk 16:2),” the communique read.
On a new political culture, the bishops said, “We demand that the government acknowledge the inadequacies that characterized the 2019 elections and embark on a course for redress. We urge her to enact, endorse and implement laws and policies that will ensure free, fair and credible elections in the future.”