Catholic Bishops tell president Buhari to resign over the incessant killings in Benue State and other parts of the country

The Catholic Bishops' Conference (CBCN) has issued a statement advicing President Buhari to resign from office, owing to the lack of capacity of his administration to protect Nigerians. They made the call in a statement issued in the wake of Tuesday's murder of two Catholic priests and 15 parishioners by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Mbalom, Benue

The statement was jointly signed by Most Reverend Augustine Akubeze and Most Reverend Camillus Umoh, CBCN President and Secretary respectively. In the signed statement , the Bishops said that for over two years, they have consistently asked President Buhari to take a re-look at the configuration of the country's security agencies, which it said are deliberately placed in the hands of only one religion.

They recounted their visit to the president, when they paid him a courtsey call on February 8 this year, where they raised alarm over the security of the nation and the spate of violence perpetrated with impunity by people who have neither respect for the value of human life nor regard for the laws of our country, hence urging him to take the most drastic steps to stem the tide of the evil in the land.

They however lamented that since their visit to the president on February 8, the bloodletting and destruction of homes as well as farmlands has risen in intensity, with no visible signs or concrete steps taken by the government to tackle the insecurity in the land which has claimed many lives and properties.

The Bishops in their subsmission, argued that the murder of the two priests, Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha, along with their parishioners, was carefully orchestrated, because it was carried out during an early morning Mass.           

 In their statement, they said: 

"This wicked act cannot be said to be a revenge attack (as is often claimed). Indeed/ we have just discovered that on January 3 this year, Fr Gor tweeted: 'we are living in fear. The Fulanis are still around here in Mbalom. They refuse to go. They still go grazing around. No weapons to defend ourselves.' Their desperate cries for security and help went unheeded by those who should have heard them "

“How can the Federal Government stand back while its security agencies deliberately turn a blind eye to the cries and wails of helpless and armless citizens who remain sitting ducks in their homes, farms, highway and now, even in their sacred places of worship?

"Now, our churches have been desecrated and our people murdered on their altars. "Today, we Christians feel violated and betrayed in a nation that we have all continued to sacrifice and pray for. We collectively feel abandoned and betrayed," the Bishops said.             

"We are sad and fear that the clock is ticking. The bomb must be defused quickly before it explodes.                 

"Since the President, who appointed the heads of the nation's security agencies has refused to call them to order, even in the face of the chaos and barbarity into which our country has been plunged, we are left with no choice but to conclude that they are acting a script that he approves of," said the Bishops.

They equally said if the President is unable to keep the country safe, then he should no longer continue in office.             

"It is clear to the nation that he has failed in his primary duty of protecting the lives of the Nigerian citizens. "Whether this failure is due to inability to perform or lack of political will, it is time for him to choose the part of honour and consider stepping aside to save the nation from total collapse," declared the Bishops.

They called on Nigerians to stand for their fundamental right to life and security. Similarly, they called on the government to encourage and empower the country's citizenry to secure themselves and their environments.                    

The Bishops opposed calls to disarm people who own legally procured weapons for self-defence. They however called on Nigerians to stand for their fundamental right to life and security                

"These are not normal times since those we pay to protect us have failed to do their duty. Nigeria can return to normal times if we put our heads together with sincerity, reasoned the Bishops.

The Bishops stated that they are currently in Rome on an official visit to the Pope, where the matter would be raised for discussion.