Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria invites pope to come and witness Fulani herdsmen killings

CLERGYMEN'S association the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN)  has invited Pope Francis to Nigeria so he can observe the killings being carried out by Fulani cattle herdsmen himself.

Over recent years, Nigeria has been plagued by the menace of heavily-armed herdsmen attacking rural farming communities, slaughtering hundreds as they unleash mayhem. Despite the international outrage over the matter, the government has been loath to clampdown on the herdsmen, who appear to be well funded and furnished with AK47 assault rifles.

Christian organisations have claimed that the attacks are part of a plan to Islamise Nigeria as the herdsmen are Muslim and most of their victims are Christians. President Muhammadu Buhari, himself an ethnic Fulani and a cattle owner, has been singled out for criticism as he has failed to show the same kind of passion for dealing with the matters as he has with Shiite Muslims of Biafran separatists.

Exasperated at the lack of government action, CBCN has written to the pope, asking him to come to Nigeria, pointing out that such visit will strengthen the country and encourage it to cope with different challenges. Most Reverend Alfred Martins, the Catholic archbishop of Lagos, revealed that the invitation has already been sent to the pontiff.

Reverend Martins said: “Oh yes, we’re looking forward to seeing him. Yes, we did invite him and of course, as expected, he couldn’t give us a response then but we are hopeful he would react to that.

"If he does come, it will not only strengthen the people, it will also encourage the people to be able to cope with these different challenges. Well, of course, we also asked him what message he wanted us to take back home as a message to our people and he said we should be courageous, particularly with regards to the recent troubles with the terrorists that masquerade as herdsmen."

It now appears that in response to the criticism, the government has finally decided to act, with the Nigerian Army instructed to go after killer herdsmen behind the killings in Benue, Taraba, Niger and Kaduna states. Speaking in Nasarawa State in February, President Buhari warned that attacks by herdsmen and other bandits would no longer be tolerated.

However, not satisfied with the results of the governments as the killings have continued since then, the CBNC has invited Pope Francis top come and view the matter. According to Reverend Martins, the pope said he would continue to pray for Nigerian Christians.

“He told us to tell our people that he is with us in spirit and he is with us praying for us, that whatever it is that is possible in order to ameliorate the situation, he is willing to journey with us. We thought that was very good,” Reverend Matins added.