By Deborah Castellano Lubov

Cardinal John Onaiyekan has expressed “outrage” over the horrific murder of a Christian student in Nigeria, and denounced the rampant violence and extremism in the country against Christians, but also against Muslims.

In an interview with Vatican News, the Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja lamented the state of insecurity in the African country, blaming much of the unrest on bad governance and fanatics, which give the rest of the world a bad name. the peaceful Muslim population of the country.

In Sokoto State, northwestern Nigeria, a Christian student, Deborah Yakubu, was stoned and set on fire after Muslim students accused her of alleged blasphemy. Subsequently, as protests continued to demand the release of two suspects in the student’s murder, a mob attacked the Holy Family Catholic Cathedral in Sokoto State.

Aid to the Church in Need denounced the student’s murder and called the levels of extremism and violence in Nigeria “absolutely appalling”. They noted that “hardly a week goes by without news of kidnappings and dozens of deaths”, but that “this barbaric act leaves us speechless”.

Frequently, Nigerians, including members of the clergy, are abducted and killed. “The increase in kidnappings, killings and general violence against civilians, including members of the Catholic clergy in many parts of Nigeria, is a scourge that has yet to be properly addressed by local authorities,” reported ACN.

In this interview, Cardinal Onaiyekan reflects on tragedy, its roots, what can be done and what is often misunderstood. He is also planning the July 2-7 visit of Pope Francis to the African countries of Congo and South Sudan.

Nigeria as a whole horrified – also to think the perpetrators were preparing to be teachers

Q: Cardinal Onaiyekan, a Christian student, was accused of blasphemy by Muslim classmates and later stoned and burned alive. What is your reaction and your call following this tragedy?

My reaction, which is the reaction of, I would say, 90% of Nigerians, is horror and outrage because this action at any cost [of the imagination] is absolutely reprehensible. First, the lady is a Christian. So from what they kept telling us, Sharia does not affect Christians. Thus, Christians should not be judged on the basis of Sharia law. Second, even though she was a Muslim, in Nigeria the form of Sharia they practice here has carefully eliminated provisions involving capital punishment. Third, as most Muslim leaders have told us, the goal is to inflict the maximum penalty [for the perpetrators]. On the basis of blasphemy, it should never be left to the mob, but to a duly constituted tribunal in which a competent judge will determine whether it is indeed a case of blasphemy.

Obviously, this created a lot of anger and annoyance, and it made our efforts at religious dialogue with Muslims more difficult than they should be. I don’t want us to forget that there is a silver lining in all this dark cloud, namely the fact that the vast majority of Muslim leaders condemned the action. We should not see this as something that was done by Nigerian Muslims against Nigerian Christians.

[The fact that] that it is the work of a group of fanatics who are at the College of Education, it is all the more worrying that these students are preparing, to be assigned to go and teach the children of the primary secondary schools in the villages of several of our states. If these students have these kinds of ideas, only God knows what they will teach the children in the classroom, if they end up teaching in the classrooms.

Need for good governance and caution against false narratives

Q: Recent news regarding religious extremism and persecution in Nigeria continues to shock the world. Is the situation as horrible as it looks? And does this violence against Christians take place exclusively in northern Nigeria where Christians are a minority, or does it extend beyond?

There are Muslims who have their own reasons for hating Christianity. But I keep insisting that they are not the majority in Nigeria. But whether they are in the minority or not, they are dangerous elements in our society because we all agree now that Christianity and Islam have come to settle in this country. We live together all over the country, even in the North, where we hear about the persecution of Christians. There are a lot of Christians from the South who live there and have stayed there, not to mention the fact that there are a lot of natives from the North who are Christians and have nowhere to go. So for me, it’s a question of governance, of good governance, of the rule of law. And where you have a situation in the country where these things are very weak, then you shouldn’t be surprised that this sort of thing is happening. Unfortunately, every time this happens, it fuels the narrative of a Nigeria that I don’t believe is right, which is the one that says Nigeria is a country where Muslims persecute Christians.

It is this way of speaking that does not help us to deal with the problem. It is my own conviction that we have seen in the case of Deborah, it is only when God Christians and Muslims agree and unite to reject terror, terrorists and extremist positions, that we can have a chance of success [referring to the Muslim leaders in Nigeria who likewise condemned the student’s murder].

As of now, those believed to be responsible for the murder, Deborah’s gruesome murder, have either been arrested or declared wanted. We are waiting to see how this law will take its course. In other words, Nigerian law currently treats them as murderers. Of course, there are a few Muslims who came out saluting that these young men had done the right thing, that it is the duty of a Muslim to kill any blasphemer. But those who hold this position are a very small minority. They are very dangerous. Unfortunately, these are the ones most people hear about.

Schoolchildren kidnapped from an Islamic seminary in Nigeria are reunited with their parents

The victims are Christians and Muslims

Q: What is the general state of security in Nigeria? How can and should local authorities address this issue appropriately, and how can Muslims and Christians work together to address it?

The problem before us is the failure of the government to uphold the rule of law and its failure to ensure the safety of life and property of every Nigerian. The issues that you raised about kidnapping for ransom, murder, robbery, and all kinds of very, terrible situations are happening now in a way that they didn’t before. The victims are both Christians and Muslims. I dare say that the perpetrators, especially of kidnappings and this kind of murder, are people who call themselves Muslims. So the Muslim community in Nigeria has a problem and many of them who are sincere are clearly embarrassed that people who claim to be Muslims are behaving this way. Often, certain leaders of Islam will tell us that those who behave like this are not good, are not Muslims. But we tell them, sorry, you can’t deny them. They are Muslims. You can call them bad Muslims, but they are Muslims. If you don’t accept them as Muslims, they would do nothing to address their misconceptions and thus help us find a way to change the narrative in these circles where horrible ideas are constantly being spread and practiced. Some of these ideas are based on the influence from outside Nigeria, some groups that we all know, ISIS… Taliban groups… Now with social media people are following their ideas and ideologies . But every good country, every serious country, said that we protect citizens from such people, even Muslim nations.

Pope Francis visits Congo and South Sudan

Q: How significant is the Pope’s upcoming visit to Africa in July in your view, and do you think it can help with the dire situation of intolerance, extremism and insecurity, even in Nigeria?

Well, Pope Francis, coming to Africa is good news for all of Africa, even though Pope Francis will only visit the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. The fact is that he comes to this land from Africa and we join him in welcoming him. I imagine that Pope Francis has reasons for choosing these two areas, in particular the fact that in the Democratic Republic of the Congo he will not only be in his capital, Kinshasa, but will go to the epicenter of the civil war which has been going on in the Congo for ten years or more, all the way to Goma. Now that means the pope wants to stick his head in the worst realm of bad governance with violence in the wake of controlled militants. The same can be said of South Sudan, a very sad situation where a nation that has become one, that has chosen independence not so long ago, has not been able to come together to build a beautiful, powerful and prosperous nation. In either case, we hope that the Pope’s visit will remind the political leaders of both countries that they have a job to do for the good of their people and that even the Pope is concerned.