Bishop Ignatius Kaigama of Nigeria on Boko Harem's Violent Jihad Against Christians

By Deacon Keith Fournier
8/23/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Pray for our Christian brethren in Nigeria being terrorized by Jihadists.

What is happening to our brethren in Nigeria should be of profound concern to us. The threat of Jihadism is not decreasing. If anything, it is increasing. The victims of this evil are being killed precisely because they are Christians. The blood of the martyrs is flowing more frequently these days as militant Islamic terrorism increases and establishes a new beachhead in Africa. For Catholics and other Christians, we cannot - we must not- fail to act. Africa is one of the great centers of the renewal of the Church in the Third Millennium.

Boko Harem members displaying their weapons

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RIMINI, Italy (Catholic Online) - One of the speakers at the 33d meeting at Rimini, held this week, was Ignatius Kaigama, the Archbishop of Jos and President of the Nigerian Episcopal Conference. The meeting is sponsored by the movement Communion and Liberation. The Archbishop gave a telephone interview to Lorenzo Margiotta which can be read in its entirety here. Among the topics discussed was the violence directed against Christians by a fundamentalist Jihadi movement called Boko Harem. Here is an excerpt:

Monsignor Kaigama, since the beginning of the year, there have been more than 600 people killed in the attacks in Nigeria. What are the reasons for this?

"These massacres are in great part caused by the fundamentalist Islamic group Boko Haram (literally meaning "Western education is forbidden"). They operate in the Northern part of Nigeria where all these acts of violence are occurring. It is a group that intends to replace the Constitution with Islamic law in order to forcefully convert the people to Islam. They initially began to attack the government, its institutions and security agencies, then initiated attacks on churches. They want to eliminate churches because they educate and promote culture."

What does the government do to guarantee security and protect the population? Boko Haram asked President Goodluck Jonathan, who is a Christian, to resign and convert to Islam.

"The violence by these groups is also fostered by the incapacity of the government to control the situation. Police and military forces do exist but up to now they have not been able to put an end to these massacres. Coordination between the different parties responsible for security is lacking. Churches are continuously under attack, in Kaduna, in Kano, in Jos, and we begin to feel abandoned, without any help. The attacks occur when we least expect it; many Christians are now afraid to go to mass and exercise their rights as Christians."

Nonetheless even Muslims have been under attack. Is it appropriate to speak about this situation as a war of religion?

"The reason for this conflict is mainly economical, fuelled by poverty and corruption. The fundamentalists of Boko Haram are very clear in their intentions: they want to kill government officials, security agents and Christians. They have no scruples to even kill Muslims who collaborate with the government and promote security. Terrorists have no respect for life - they kill others thus killing themselves. Their aim is to create confusion. We always try to make a distinction between the fanatic fundamentalist groups and ordinary Muslims because ordinary Muslims in Nigeria want to live in peace with their neighbours."

How do you believe it is possible to get out of this situation? Is there hope for an end to the violence?

"Ending violence is a responsibility of the government. As religious leaders we can only teach the people not to respond to violence with violence, but we cannot enforce the law in order to stop these diabolic people that attack Nigerians within the country. The federal government, however, does not seem capable of effectively countering terrorism: these attacks have been occurring since 2009 and up to now there has been no adequate response. Considering the situation, the population is increasingly afraid. We require definitive action against Boko Haram, which has substantial amounts of money, sophisticated arms at its disposal, great exposure on the Internet and close contact with journalists. If the government cannot handle this on its own they have to look for support outside in order to involve those who have the means to assist. The fundamentalists of Boko Haram can be defeated. I am worried by the fact that, up to this point, no one has been able to initiate a dialogue."

We regularly report on the evil acts of Boko Harem. The phrase "Boko Haram" means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language. These Islamist terrorists hate all things western and Christian. They are Jihadists who intend to forcibly establish an Islamic Caliphate and impose Shariah Law.

They are also called al-Sunnah wal Jamma - or "Followers of the Prophet's Teachings". They refer to themselves officially as Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which means "people committed to the propagation of the prophet's teachings and Jihad". They are murderers and terrorists who use an appeal to religion to attempt to justify their evil.

I reported on the horrible bombing outside of St Theresa's Catholic Church on Christmas Day. That evil act, perpetrated by these Islamic terrorists who refer to themselves as the "Nigerian Taliban," was followed by an ultimatum issued to Christians in Northern Nigeria to leave in three ...

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1 - 7 of 7 Comments

Michael smith
8 months ago
Do unto others as they would do unto you! If they want a holy war, I am ready, with the help of God, let's go!
Juneau Alaska
9 months ago
Yes in Western Africa we have these problems. In Eastern Africa (Uganda), the Uganda Joint Christian Council just reversed a decision and is now backing an anti-homosexuality law that has a provision to kill gays for being gay. I am not making this up. Why are the Catholic Bishops supporting this atrocious "Kill the Gays" bill? Where are the US Brother Bishops speaking out against this evil? Certainly some bishops disagree. I would like to hear them speak. And yet nothing but crickets. For shame. -Mike
Jorge
9 months ago
Bishop kaigama seems to be contradicting himself..first he says that this genocide is clearly religiously motivated by islamic radical teachings, but later he says it is also caused by economical factors. This second statement is false unfortunately..the only true factor is islamic supremacism, sharia, jihad, all part of the scheme of butchering or converting all nigerians at all cost to islam. as usal this article predictably does not mention the fact that most nigerian "moderate" muslims could finish boko haram easilly if they wished to, but instead they give them secret support and safe-haven; they don't fisih boko haram because they share the same ethos and objectives-make islam the only religion and sharia the only law of the country, by whatever means possible. we need brave, straighforward leaders from the pultpit, not jihadist appeasers, accomplices of our own demise and genocide. It is time to stop islam supremacism, jihad NOW on its tracks, by all means necessary.
abey
9 months ago
Many of the problems lie in the preachings of some preachers to "Social Gospel" into their governmental agendas to Cultures, especially so when it is to western culture, instead of the "pure" Preaching of the Christian Faith which sans all cultures. Which, all the more become averse to others in the confusion especially so today & by the day with the Obama's & Hillary Clinton's pressing the spread of gay agendas that which is being professed through the so-called alternate lifestyles, which is but become a stumbling Block (the doctrine of Balaam) to spreading the Faith, even though it stands against gay culture.
Stephen
9 months ago
Our parish priest, Fr. Ben, is from Nigeria. He informs us of the terrorist attacks, and we pray for peace and prosperity of his homeland. Can't the leaders of Nigeria, the UN, the US State Department do more to protect the people of Nigeria?

‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’ attributed to Edmund Burke, Irish statesman -1770 - Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents.
Scott Risser
9 months ago
Our parish priest and several in our mission diocese are from Nigeria. They have an orthodox devotion that we Americans need to learn from. There are more priests from my priests diocese in the western US than we even have in our diocese. These men are true witnesses. They are here and their families are living this violence. We pray for God's mercy and outstretched arm.
Annemarie
9 months ago
I have been following the events in Nigeria since around Christmas, when I first heard of the violence. Even with everything going on in the world as it is today, I was shocked that people would murder others at a Christmas Mass. It's been a joke amongst some friends and I that if we got to choose when to die, we'd want to die at Mass directly after stepping out of the confessional - but this is no joke. This is happening to people, who are NOT choosing to die.

I hear about the mass murders, the children dying - but this is the first time I have heard a real Catholic outcry against it. We must pray, always, but we must also take action to protect our brothers and sisters in Christ. I do wish the mother church would take a stronger position to help, I know many people who would give their time and money to help - but we don't know what to do! Are there any Christian organizations that are helping that we can donate to and spread the word about? It is terrible to feel so helpless.
I pray these murderers are stopped and brought to justice. I pray the killing stops. I pray the Holy Catholic Church can once again become a sanctuary for the people in Nigeria who desperately need it.

Peace be with you.

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