Catholic Bishops deplore Nigeria’s ‘endless bleeding’

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) have lamented the nation’s escalating security crisis, saying there must be an end to Nigeria’s continued endless bleeding with gunmen operate boldly, freely and unchallenged.

The Archbishop of Owerri and President of CBCN, Bishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, said this on Sunday in Abuja, while delivering his final presidential address at the opening session of the CBCN 2026 First Plenary Meeting.

The event held at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), themed “The Common Good and Leadership in Nigeria”, also saw Archbishop Ugorji announcing that he would step down at the conclusion of the plenary session.

According to him, the recent mass atrocities that have shocked the nation’s conscience is a reflection of the harrowing picture of insecurity across Nigeria.

“Our country has continued to experience rising security challenges. We continue to hear sad tales of senseless massacres, mass burials, endless tears and grief,” Ugorji said.

He noted the new wave of mass kidnapping incidents by gunmen in Kwara, Kebbi, Niger, Kaduna, and Kogi states, amomg others involving many students, pupils and worshipers.

He said that the nation remained outraged by recent mass murders in different communities, particularly in Woro and Nuku villages in Kwara State, where over 200 Muslims were gruesomely massacred by scores of Islamist jihadists for refusing to embrace extremist version of Islam.

He said, “The killing spree lasted all night without any resistance from security agents. The jihadists torched houses, abducted some persons and left the villages in ruin. Many of the dead were later found with hands and feet tied; some were burnt alive, some others had had their throats slit.”

The CBCN president assessing the government’s security response, lamented what he described as a largely reactive approach that has failed to protect vulnerable communities.

“Sometimes, they travel long distances on motorcycles with deadly weapons to attack defenceless communities. They exploit the longstanding intelligence, operational and capacity deficiencies of our national security architecture to wreak havoc on defenceless communities,” Ugorji said.

He said that despite kidnappers brazenly brandishing collected ransoms on social media without disguising themselves, yet, they were not arrested through their digital footprints.

While acknowledging President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a national security emergency on November 26, 2025, and subsequent stepped-up military operations, Archbishop Ugorji stressed that more fundamental changes were required.

The CBCN President described the current reactive approach as akin to administering medicine after death.

He said, “To effectively tackle insecurity, government must go beyond declaring a national emergency on security and reactive interventions to invest more in modern technological equipment for surveillance; strengthen the intelligence and technological capacities of security agents to enable them act proactively in detecting and preventing terrorist attacks.”

He also called for swift prosecution of arrested terrorists, expressing concern that delaying the prosecution of arrested terrorists or pardoning and reintegrating perceived ‘repentant Boko Haram members’ through the ‘Operation Safe Corridor’ gives the impression of complicity on the side of government.

He equally noted the large-scale economic sabotage through illegal mining, which he said is inextricably linked to funding terrorism and organised crime.

“Despite Nigeria’s Mineral and Mining Act 2007, which vests ownership of all mineral resources in the country to the federal government and regulates exploration and exploitation of resources, our nation, as reported, continues to lose about $9 billion annually to illegal mining which is strongly linked to the rise and sustenance of banditry, kidnapping and other organised crimes,” he said.

He named Zamfara, Kaduna, Kebbi, Katsina, Sokoto, Niger, Kwara, Benue, and Osun states as hotspots where criminal groups use proceeds from mineral sales to buy weapons and fund terrorist activities, alleging the involvement of foreign nationals in this illegal enterprise.

“It is notable that foreign nationals, especially Chinese, in collaboration with criminal networks exploit weak regulations and enforcement to participate in illegal mining and cart away our national wealth, while citizens watch with seeming helplessness,” he stated.

He further added that hazardous chemicals used by unlicensed miners result in severe environmental degradation and public health crises.

The Archbishop called for a more aggressive approach to combating illegal mining, suggesting that the Mining Marshals deployed by government should be complemented by drone technology and artificial intelligence for monitoring remote and high-risk mining sites.

Speaking on the political landscape, Archbishop Ugorji expressed grave concern over declining voter turnout in general elections, which has fallen from 69% in 2003 to a mere 23% in 2023.

“This decline says a lot about citizens’ trust in the electoral process and calls into question the legitimacy of elected officials in a democratic dispensation with the mandate of an ever decreasing minority of citizens of voting age,” he warned.

He urged the National Assembly to review its recent stand on Electoral Reform, urging that the Electoral Act provide for the mandatory transmission of election results in real-time from the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) at polling units (PUs) to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal to prevent human tampering with the expressed will of the electorate.

He noted the National Assembly’s apparent inconsistency, that while members passed the 2025 Tax Bill demanding digital filing and record-keeping, they seem reluctant to apply similar digital integrity to electoral processes.

“The honourable members of the NASS should not allow themselves to be perceived as talking out of both sides of the mouth, expressing inconsistent and contradictory positions in the process of passing bills. The world is watching! Above all, God is also watching,” he said.

Delivering the homily, during the opening mass, the Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Most Rev Ignatius Kaigama, cautioned political and religious leaders against abusing authority and expressed hope for a more credible election cycle.

“We fervently hope that the 2027 elections will be different and every single vote… will count, and the genuine will of the people, respected,” Kaigama said.

While warning against materialistic distortions of Christian teachings, he addd, “Some so-called powerful men of God preach a distorted message that God will make people rich.”

On his part, Dr. Mike Omeri Agbo-Omeri, Obowu of Keana, delivered a speech titled “The Power of Leadership and Upscaling of the Common Good in Nigerian Spiritual and Public Spaces.”

Omeri revealed his initial reservation at speaking before the bishops, saying his friend Prof. Anthony Kila had cautioned him to tapper it a little to avoid causing chaos.

However, he said a gentle whisper of ‘Courage, Son, Courage’ emboldened him to speak.

“Courage is a value of leadership, one that inspires and motivates others to strive for greatness. Leadership is influence, and influence is a value of character defined by purpose.

“Leadership of purpose is courageous and does not seek power. Rather, it seeks to serve. It inspires, motivates, and ultimately delivers change or prioritizes it,” he said.

He challenged both spiritual and public leaders to prioritise character, courage, and service over personal ambition, insisting that leadership must be driven by purpose and the pursuit of the common good.

In his remark, the Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria, Most Rev. Michael Francis Crotty, underscored the unity of the Church under the Successor of Peter and urged the bishops to remain steadfast in communion with the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV.

The Nuncio commended the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria for its recent statement on insecurity and for choosing “The Common Good and Leadership in Nigeria” as the theme of the plenary.

According to him, leadership must serve the common good at every level of society, fostering harmony, justice and hope for all Nigerians.

He stressed that peace and the rebuilding of “our common life” require shared responsibility, justice, dialogue and mutual respect across religious and ethnic lines.