Nigeria and brutal attack against Christian worshippers: Blood keeps flowing
Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Nigeria is beset by Islamic terrorist groups, ethnic massacres, and roaming criminal activities that fuse with religious and ethnic tensions. Other important issues concern political corruption, uneven economic development throughout Nigeria, and the extreme gap between rich and poor. Therefore, in recent years, the blood keeps flowing: and this especially applies to massacres against Christians in Nigeria.
The latest terrorist attack against Christian worshippers took place inside the St Francis Catholic Church in southwest Nigeria. Hence, with utter carnage inside and countless dead bodies, it is clear that the security issues in Nigeria are spiraling. Indeed, this gruesome massacre took place in a more peaceful part of Nigeria. Thus, Nigerian government authorities must be worried about the spread of the internal convulsions that beset Nigeria.
Reuters reports, “Gunmen attacked a Catholic church in southwest Nigeria during mass on Sunday, killing at least 50 people including women and children, according to a hospital doctor and media reports.”
The attack took place in the town of Owo in the state of Ondo. Hence, while Christians were praying to God inside the holy Catholic church: terrorists outside deemed this an opportune time to slaughter Christians.
The Catholic Church spokesperson in Nigeria, Rev. Augustine Ikwu, said, “It is so sad that while the Holy Mass was going on, unknown gunmen attacked St Francis Catholic Church … leaving many feared dead and many others injured and the Church violated.”
Vatican News says, “Bishop Jude Ayodeji Arogundade, of the Diocese of Ondo, expressed his closeness to the victims and their families, according to Fr. Augustine Ikwu, the Communications Director for the diocese.”
Islamic terrorist groups have been killing in vast numbers in northern Nigeria for many years. This notably applies to Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP). Alarmingly, authorities – and the media – often downplay the role of religion in the crisis for other barbaric attacks. For example, terminologies like Bandits are used against other groups. However, this is often far from the case – instead, ethnic or religious issues are at play.
Modern Tokyo Times said (in a past article), “…the latest massacre that killed over 200 villagers in the state of Zamfara was committed by Bello Turji loyalists. However, this “bandit” is clearly an Islamist – and similar to Boko Haram and ISIS – his followers care little about killing ordinary Christians and Muslims. Instead, they all have an Islamist goal to curtail Christianity and to impose their twisted logic on society.”
The fear in Nigeria – similar to Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Mali, and other nations – is the terrorist menace is set to spread to other parts of the country. Nigeria can wrap it up in banditry or whatever suits the agenda. However, Christians already feel abandoned in parts of northern Nigeria. Therefore, the latest massacre needs to be addressed alongside the utter failure of central forces to stem the flow of blood in Nigeria.
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