Very Rev. Msgr. (Dr.) Pius Kii, Judicial Vicar of the Catholic Diocese of Port Harcourt has reminded papal honourees that they have an obligation to defend the faith entrusted to them by Christ. He emphasised that this responsibility involves defending the faith, contemplating it deeply, proclaiming it, and expounding it in full authenticity and fidelity, in accordance with Canon 747 of the Code of Canon Law. Msgr. Kii made this declaration in his keynote address at the 16th annual national conference of the Association of Papal Knights and Medalists in Nigeria (APKMN) penultimate Friday at the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus (EHJ) Centre, Ikeja, Lagos. In his address, entitled “Living an authentic Catholic Life: Challenges and opportunities in contemporary Nigeria,” he expressed concern over the challenges confronting Catholics in Nigeria, who face persecution and violence from extremist groups. Msgr. Kii said, “We live in Nigeria with the darkness of insecurity.
Catholics and Catholic institutions in Nigeria face threats from different extremist groups and have actually been the target of many terrorist attacks. In a statistics from The Kukah Centre, between 2019-2023, 16,769 Christians were killed while 11,185 were abducted. “These attacks are from jihadist groups, like Boko Haram (BH) – an Islamist extremist group seeking to establish an Islamic state; Ansaru – Boko Haram – a splinter group with ties to Al – Qaeda, Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) – affiliate of the Islamic State (ISIS), Al – Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb [AQIM] – an international terrorist organisation with Nigerian affiliates; banditry and kidnapping groups like Fulani herdsmen, Zamfara bandits, Kaduna kidnappers and a host of others.
“Of course, the Catholic Church has also been the victim of the operations of militant and ethnic militia as well. A new group named lukarawa has just been spotted to be operating in Sokoto and Kebbi. “On account of the fear and insecurity generated, many Catholics, especially the above average Catholics are no longer able to attend morning and evening masses and Church programmes and are now utilising the Masses and devotions streamed on the media – notably the Oremus on Africa Independent Television, of which I am the Producer from the Catholic Diocese of Port – Harcourt; Lumen Christi from the Archdiocese of Lagos, and EWTN on the international plane as well as seasonal messages from the hierarchy of the Nigerian Church, including but not limited to the compact, but densely scriptural and theological reflections of the Archbishop of Lagos, and Metropolitan of Lagos Province, His Grace, Most Rev. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Martins.”
