A Catholic priest in the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, and Parish priest of St. Denis Catholic Church, Akoka, Lagos, Rev. Fr. Theodore Martinos has expressed worries and fears that the wanton killings and kidnappings for ransoms in Nigeria are becoming fashionable, with the federal government doing little or nothing to stop it, or bring ing the perpetrators to book. In his homily delivered during last Sunday mass, the erudite priest averred that “Life is sacred, and very precious and should be seen and treated as such at all times. In his words, ‘‘It is sad and fast becoming fashionable, and if not checked by government, may likely become the normal trend in the country, even as the dividends of democracy are denied the people by the government in place”. According to the priest, he is worried and concerned about taking of lives, wondering if life and living no longer have meaning.
He recalled the recent mass killings in Jos, Plateau State, the abduction and killing of an army general at the National Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna State and several other kidnappings for ransoms across the country. He further decried the many times when human lives are wasted in the name of money rituals, religion, and the revenge culture, or retaliations for missing of cows etc. While condemning the recent pronouncements of president Buhari’s move to revert the anti-grassing law passed by certain governors, with the insistence that nobody should take up arms against bandits or Fulani herdsmen in self defence, Rev. Fr. Martinos lamented the too many killings and kidnappings across the nation.
Spitting fire on the state of the nation, the visibly angry priest, no doubt agrees with Bishop Hamawwa’s views on state of the nation, and that the President’s stance amounts to promoting one class of people over others. This, he concluded does not augur well for our nation, Nigeria as one indivisible entity. Still on state of the nation, Fr. Martinos admonished parishioners on the need to be mindful and strictly observe government’s regulations on the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the call for vaccinations should not be condemned outrightly but to be seen as a matter of choice.
