The Catholic Bishops of Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province has condemned in strong terms the brutal killing of over 70 people recently buried in Benue and called on the Federal Government to make sure that the perpetrators are apprehended and prosecuted accordingly.

This was contained in a communique issued at the end of the first meeting of the Catholic Bishops of Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province for 2018 held at the Jubilee Centre, Oke-Ado, Ibadan and was made available to CEOAFRICA.

Stressing that the continuous conflicts provoked by the herdsmen in Nigeria has attained a tragic climax with little coordinated effort from the Federal Government to prevent or assuage the tragedy, warned that its not healthy for the peace and unity of Nigeria.

“The unfortunate, by-now-familiar “siddon-look” attitude of the Federal government to such tragedies involving cow-herders in parts of the country has made many Nigerians to question whether animal rights could indeed be placed above human lives?

Surely, cattle-rearing is practiced in other countries in Africa and the world therefore our governments should consider improved ways of catering for cattle with minimum stress to other legitimate professions, as is done elsewhere in the world.

We call on the government at all levels to support the legitimate yearnings of peoples all over Nigeria to live and thrive in peace within their rights as all hands must be on deck to put a stop to the bloody charade witnessed so frequently from encounters with Fulani herdsmen.”

In the same vain, the Bishops condemned the mindless attack and vandalization of the Catholic Cathedral of St. Joseph’s in Ilorin, the Methodist Church and Christ Apostolic Church which suffered the same fate, in the same vicinity in Ilorin in the early hours of New year day by armed youths chanting anti-Christian slogans saying, it’s signs of persecution of Christians and infringement on religious freedom.

“This and such acts all over the country only add to the bad image which Nigeria already bears in the eyes of the world, as one of the least safe countries for Christians to live in.

 We cannot insist enough that the government of Kwara State fulfil the now-clichéd promise to bring the perpetrators of this act to justice, support the restoration of damaged structures and work hard with sincerity to prevent future occurrences, so as to restore the confidence of our people.

 On a general level, time has come to firmly and sincerely protect religious freedom as the fundamental right of every citizen in Nigeria and make it impossible for anyone to take it away from another by acts of violence and destruction.”

Deliberating on the menace of fake news, the Bishops said that, like elsewhere in the world, “fake news” has become a real concern in Nigeria.

Democratization of information and instruments of media as the cause of unlimited access to the means and methods of dissemination has turned everyone to become informers of almost equal status regardless of intention and objective.

Given that such news has already brought down families, associations, governments, even other institutions all over the world, and even destroyed many innocent lives, every citizen has the responsibility to double-check the authenticity of information before believing or disseminating it.

“The matter becomes more worrying however when credible institutions of society deploy fake news to achieve ends considered profitable to them.”

They cautioned our politicians, institutions, associations and people to be vigilant and minimize the adverse effects of fake news around us.

“The end never justifies the means and anything built on falsehood eventually collapses. Only the truth can set us free.”

 The Bishops also urged all institutions of the Nigerian society to promptly and effectively disseminate necessary information that can build up, not destroy society noting that ineffectual clichés like being “on top of the situation”, being on the trail of hoodlums or attributing serious tragedies to “communal clashes, simply will not do, because whenever meaningful information is lacking, fake news manufacturers seize the initiative to cause havoc.

The Bishops expressed gratitude to God for the safe release, after 55 days in captivity, of three Aspirants and three Reverend Sisters of the Eucharistic Hearts of Jesus (EHJ) who were kidnapped in November 2017 from their convent in Benin, Edo State and thank all those who prayed and worked for a happy outcome to this unfortunate kidnapping and ask the Congregation of the EHJ Sisters to remain steadfast and focused in their holy vocation of love and service to God and humanity.

 They also prayed for the quick and safe release of all who are in captivity in Nigeria and for the conversion of the perpetrators and called on the Nigerian government and security agencies to do more to curtail the ugly incidences of kidnaping which has become a national embarrassment to Nigeria as a country.

Acknowledging the improvements made in the area of power supply and agriculture, they emphasized that “Unfortunately, our woes today seem to weigh far more than these blessings”.

They challenged the government and competent authorities in Nigeria to be more responsive to their responsibilities saying that If we do not find a credible solution to problems of unemployment, human trafficking, terrorism, kidnapping, nepotism, religious bigotry and corruption, Nigeria might face a most uncertain future.