The Catholic Bishops of Kaduna
Ecclesiastical Province have urged the Federal Government to
compensate Churches and other victims of insurgency carried out by
terrorists on places of worship.
Bishop Mathew Ndagoso, their spokesman,
made the plea on Tuesday in Minna, in a briefing after a two-day
Catholic Bishops of Kaduna Ecclesiastical Province plenary session,
held at St. Michael Cathedral, Minna.
“In the past six years, insurgents
have attacked Churches and other Christian places in the north, but
the Federal Government is yet to compensate the victims.
“We want to inform you that the
Catholic Church has not received any support from the Federal
Government for the Churches affected.
“In Niger, the first terrorist attack
was on St. Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla, on Dec. 25, 2011.
“Last year, some youths attacked the
St. Philips Catholic Church, Bakin Iku, near Suleja, destroying
properties valued at several millions of Naira. No one has even
sympathised with us,” he said.
The Bishop opined that the
Federal Government was supposed to be responsible for giving
assistance to the Churches and the victims.
Ndagoso explained that government ought
to be responsible for giving assistance to the victims.
The Bishop said that he had personally
suffered from such attacks.
“When I was in Maiduguri, my house
was destroyed and burnt in my absence. Nothing was taken out of that
house. The Church was equally destroyed. Nobody has compensated me or
the Church,” he said.
Ndagoso appealed to state governments
to issue Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) for lands meant for the
building of Churches, and urged the Federal Government to encourage
the governors to do so to enable the Church to assist development
needs of the nation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
reports that the plenary session focused on religious,
socio-political and economic issues affecting the province.
NAN also reports that the province
comprised of Kaduna, Sokoto, Kontangora, Zaria, Minna, Kano and
Kafanchan Catholic Dioceses.
*NAN
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