Ado Ekiti, Nigeria, Feb 12, 2024 / 09:00 am
Catholic bishops in Nigeria’s Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province (IEP) are alarmed by the recurrent and “pervasive” security challenges in the West African nation, which they compare to a battlefield characterized with hostility and killing.
In a Tuesday, Feb. 6, communiqué following a two-day meeting, the Catholic Church leaders at the helm of the Ibadan Archdiocese and the Dioceses of Ekiti, Ilorin, Ondo, Osogbo, and Oyo said: “All is not well, and positive change is needed.”
“Our dear country Nigeria is fast becoming a hostile killing field. The ship of the nation is foundering under the weight of pervasive insecurity, economic hardship due to hyperinflation, and the collapse of the naira [Nigeria’s currency], cybercrime, high cost of food, lackadaisical governance, and widespread corruption,” the bishops said in their statement.
Life in Nigeria, they lamented, “is fast becoming an ordeal for millions of Nigerians because pervasive poverty, driven by the harsh environment, has driven many to desperation and even suicide.”