MUSLIM HATE IN NIGERIA!
Vatican says pope saddened about violence against Nigerian
Christians
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI urged security officers to restore peace
and the rule of law in Nigeria after violence against Christians left up to 50
people dead, including a Catholic priest.
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican's secretary of state, said in a telegram
sent to church and government officials in Nigeria that the pope was "saddened
to learn of the tragic consequences of the recent violent protests in northern
Nigeria."
A Muslim protest against a series of European cartoons offensive to Islam,
originally published in Denmark, proceeded peacefully Feb. 18 in the city of
Maiduguri, capital of Nigeria's Borno state.
But after the demonstration, armed men took to the streets, setting afire
churches, homes and businesses owned by Christians. Some 50 people, reportedly
all Christians, were killed in the blazes or by their attackers, said Bishop
Matthew Ndagoso of Maiduguri.
The papal telegram, which the Vatican released to journalists Feb. 21, said the
pope was praying for all those affected by the violence, especially those who
had been killed and their loved ones.
The pope made special mention of Father Michael Gajere, the Nigerian priest who
died inside a burning parish compound after staying behind to save a group of
altar boys from attackers.
The pope called on all those "involved in providing security ... to ensure peace
and to promote the rule of law for which all people of good will long," the
telegram said.
Speaking to
Catholic News Service by phone Feb. 21
from Maiduguri, Bishop Ndagoso said the church and local Christians are
questioning why no adequate security was provided for the Feb. 18 demonstration.
He said there was "no visible police presence" when fires started in different
parts of the city as soon as demonstrators dispersed from the city's main square
at 10 a.m.
Government "agencies gave permission for this demonstration, but they know
demonstrations in our country often turn violent, and so they should have taken
adequate security measures," he said.
He said police only came on the scene "after the damage had been done. To us,
this shows the complicity on the part of the government."
The bishop said in addition to those killed, hundreds were injured, and 40
church buildings were destroyed. Among them were four Catholic churches and the
bishop's house.
"My house is burned completely down, even the walls have fallen down," Bishop
Ndagoso said. He said he was away at a seminar the morning the violence broke
out, "otherwise I would have been caught there" in the burning home.
Father Gajere was the diocesan justice and peace director and helped dig wells
and build dams for the surrounding Muslim communities, the bishop said. Born
locally in 1964, the priest was ordained in 1992 and always worked in the same
diocese.
Bishop Ndagoso said the priest was with about eight altar boys inside the
rectory when the church next door was set ablaze. The priest faced the attackers
as they stormed the rectory, and he urged them to not cause anyone any harm,
said the bishop.
"When he realized the flames were closing in, he told the kids to run and they
jumped the wall" surrounding church compound, the bishop told CNS. The priest
stayed behind "to persuade the attackers to do nothing, but instead he paid the
supreme price" with his death.
"The situation is still very tense. Even though people are going about their
business, there is an uneasy calm," he said.
While some have suggested criminals or local hoodlums were responsible for
transforming the peaceful demonstration into an inferno, Bishop Ndagoso said one
"cannot rule out religious motives."
"It has clearly religious undertones, because why would they only burn Christian
businesses, homes and churches?" he asked.
The northern Nigerian state of Borno is more than 60 percent Muslim. There are
about a half million Christians in a state of 3.5 million people, the bishop
said.
He said the government listed the official death toll at 15 in an effort to
minimize the severity of the incident and prevent outbreaks of retaliatory
violence in the city and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the apostolic nuncio in Nigeria, Archbishop Renzo Fratini, told the
Vatican missionary news agency, Fides, that he believes there was "no specific
hatred against Catholics in Nigeria" and that the latest violence "had little to
do with religion."
He said there have been tensions between Muslims and all Christians, not just
Catholics, but that political unrest may have been the trigger in Maiduguri,
since protesters were also contesting a proposed constitutional amendment that
would allow Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, a Christian, to run for a
third term.