The moral crisis of truth about Christian genocide and the silent shepherd: A denial that betrays the faithful: Christians in Nigeria are not asking for ‘preferential treatment’, the facts/statistics validate the claim of genocide. Christians are simply asking (like other faiths), that they be allowed to simply live, safely and be allowed to practice their faith and worship their God. They are asking for fairness, equality, equity, justice, and, that their human dignity be respected and protected as guaranteed by the Constitution. After all, human dignity does not come from might, guns, popularity, appearance, material acquisitions or other artefacts. Human dignity comes from the fact that “we all” are part of humanity – an ecosystem that embodies all of creation – God’s children – our faiths and beliefs notwithstanding.
By Elsie-Bernadette Onubogu
I will say it again, increasingly, I find myself reluctant while my pen drifts into uncomfortable terrain — realms I would normally avoid, or subjects I’d rather leave to others. I offer unsolicited advice, write about issues that trouble my soul, controversial, private, but relevant. In most, I issue (un)anointed sermons and choice offers to the reader.
This time, it is a lamentation and a note to someone I would temporarily refer to as the ‘silent shepherd’ of our land. I still hope to retain my respect and deep reverence for him and his office. But, his recent utterance, actions and indeed a reluctance (a denial) to call a spade a spade, feels like a betrayal to the faithful.
This betrayal distorts the discourse as it boxes Christendom into an unfair corner, portraying Christians as if they are either lying, or, asking for preferential treatment. For instance, did his ‘frocked brother’ in Benue lie when he told the nation that he had closed 17 parishes, and those parishioners could no longer practice religious freedom safely? Of course not!
No, Christians in Nigeria are not asking for ‘preferential treatment’, the facts/statistics validate the claim of genocide. Christians are simply asking (like other faiths), that they be allowed to simply live, safely and be allowed to practice their faith and worship their God.
They are asking for fairness, equality, equity, justice, and, that their human dignity be respected and protected as guaranteed by the Constitution. After all, human dignity does not come from might, guns, popularity, appearance, material acquisitions or other artefacts. Human dignity comes from the fact that “we all” are part of humanity – an ecosystem that embodies all of creation – God’s children – our faiths and beliefs notwithstanding.
So, this shepherd’s claim of ignorance while wearing his frock, and amidst a promotion to the chancellor of a University, goes to the heart of the moral crisis of whether there is a Christian genocide in Nigeria or whether it is a fabrication, a ruse or a lie.
Perhaps, unaware, his silence and preferred plea leaves room for presumption of fabrication by naysayers especially in the current clime of misinformation and fake news, as well as dealing with a government chock-a-block with spinners and propagandists. He, (unintentionally I hope) opened a dangerous door. In order to dispel all doubts and shut that door, this writer has chosen to undertake an inquisitorial approach (recreating his speech verbatim) in response to questions that will help us clarify if indeed there is Christian genocide or not.
In paragraphs 2 and 3 of his speech (see below), this shepherd admitted amongst other things, “There has been national and international concerns about security in Nigeria. And, for over 15 years, murderous gangs of Islamicists and jihadist groups have found their way into our country, wreaking havoc, destroying lives and properties…With the emergence of Boko Haram and the targeting of Church structures, destruction of schools, hospitals, the kidnapping of priests, the religious, seminarians and other pastoral agents, the murderous gangs invoking the words like, allahu akbar as their anthem of death, there was no other way of speaking of persecution of Christians by these jihadist groups rather than calling them religious persecution targeted at Christians”. Yet, he says, he is confused on what name to call this carnage. It cannot be ‘Christian Genocide,’ and pleads against the US government’s law that promotes religious freedom.
Ah! My heart bleeds, my stomach churns, that onion in my eyes is yet again weeping. I feel forsaken, desolate, and I hear the words of the prophet up north in the desert crying: ‘O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ…crucified among you…Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain…?’ (Galatians 3)
Before now, he fell within the class of Jeremiah firebrand kind of shepherds. Lately, something seems amiss. I am not sure what has gone wrong, but, allow me to review, analyze and speculate based on the national trend.
This trend is one in which Nigeria/ns are witnessing a systematic neutralization or disintegration of opposition, dissent and differing voices. It is a trend that appears to: exorcise hitherto known activists of their willpower to activism; retires the ‘holies/pious’ from righteousness, and turns willing persons into numpties, as captured in articles – ‘The Pandemic of Idiocy, Morality is not a buffet, and Hypocrisy dressed in the garb of Anointing.’ Still, what is happening goes beyond the above groupings. Who or what is bewitching this nation, and who gets bewitched next is anyone’s guess?
Once upon a time, Nigeria was renowned for its opposition movements even at the national level. From colonial times with the Aba Women’s Riots, etc., strong unions including labour and students unions, who confronted even military dictators have functioned effectively.
Out of these groupings, we can collate those who we regarded as part of the conscience of the nation. They had courage, backbones – they stood at the forefront of activism. Some were regarded as radicals. This silent shepherd once belonged to that class.
Unfortunately, today’s activism is left with a few voices. Most have either been co-opted, commercialized or silenced. We see past activists become government spokespersons, contractors, and beneficiaries. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)are not spared. Faith-based organizations (like CAN under past administration) are neutralized with grants, and left subdued by fear, fatigue and/or financial inducement. So many have been systematically fractured, broken and rubbished sometimes with mere profits.
Even with the 100,000-capacity Churches and camps, Nigeria feels like a spiritual wasteland. So, even without a prophetic garb, my soul cries out to the people of our nation – remember ye the Lord’s warning, that, “the just shall live by faith, if any person (man) draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him” {Hebrews 10:38}.
No matter how you wish to slice this assertion and trend, one thing I know for sure is, the present occupier of Aso-Rock has outshone the ‘Maradona’ of ‘Pricing’ – IBB. In repressing through sophisticated corruption, baptism of ‘redemption and giving,’ lies, propaganda and subtle annexation, he ought to be Guinness’ed in the records. His emasculating effort to get all into the ‘All-Purpose-Centric party,’ is successful in ensuring that the activist class where you once found fearless voices and consciences, is now muzzled into retirement, denial, plain silence or ‘mandated to sing and wave to an aircraft like village kids.’
Yes, I am battling with my conscience to address this shepherd. I hope you appreciate my struggle as I weave around – attempting to make this case as humanly decent as possible. What I know for sure is, God will give me the grace to stand, and capture the facts and the truth as I see it.
This shepherd who once admitted (5 years ago) that blood was flowing in our land and had a name for it, suddenly, 5 years later, says, though the blood is still flowing both from religious and ethnic perspectives, he cannot, and does not have a name for it. This is wrong!
Remember the Lord’s caution, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame (Hebrews 6: 4-6).
Again, I have no right of condemnation, but I have a right to factual observation. The facts are clearly documented, both nationally and internationally. In fact, he – the silent shepherd directly and indirectly admitted this in his speech to the ‘Aid to the Church in Need’ (ACiN) on October 21 at the Vatican in Rome. Like the other protagonist I wrote about, he too has not been like this before.
He is one that did (do) belong to the class of those once considered the ‘conscience of the nation.’ I honestly pray, this is a dream – I pray that this play, this script doesn’t end like the other.
There are several issues to extract from the speech of this shepherd, which I will recap below. However, the most prickly and unresolved issues could be summed up as follows:
- Are there killings and bloodshed in Nigeria which is targeting a group of people?
- If there are such killings, does it constitute genocide as universally agreed by the accepted definition?
- If so, is the argument that Nigeria is witnessing and allowing these targeted killings factual and true?
- If the target is based on religion, could it be rightly classified as ‘Christian Genocide? And
- If (iv) is true, should the US government depict Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC)?
Before I delve into reviewing these pointed issues, I would like to do the following. First – the universal definition of ‘genocide, a brief note on CPC, and add a third category – Special Watch List – SWL, which will be my ‘alternate offer’ to the silent shepherd in the event he still cannot find his conscience or the moral basis to speak truth to the faithful, who look up to him for guidance.
Genocide: According to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, genocide includes acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. That includes: Killing members of the group; Causing serious bodily or mental harm; and, Deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to bring about destruction.
Country of Particular Concern (CPC): Without going into details, the United States Congress under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998, the President is required to annually review the status of religious freedom in every country in the world and designate each country the government of which has engaged in or tolerated “particularly severe violations of religious freedom” as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).
The law defines particularly severe violations and listed the following: (1) torture; (2) prolonged detention without charges; (3) forced disappearance; or (4) other flagrant denial of life, liberty, or security of persons, (5) destruction of places of worship, (6) discrimination in public life, enjoyment, or education on religious grounds, and Government’s failure to prevent or punish such violations.
The CPC Act is about monitoring and ensuring religious freedom. It is about the exposure of killing, torture, imprisonment of people for their faith, or barring people from exercising their faith freely. As has been noted, it is not meant as a punishment, rather, it is a watchdog to monitor serious violations along the lines enumerated. In a sense, it is analogous to the protection of fundamental human rights as listed under Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. Since the shepherd admitted these violations, why is he against Nigeria being called out for violating religious freedom?
Special Watch List: Under the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2016 (Wolf Act), the President is required to “designate each country that engaged in or tolerated severe violations of religious freedom during the previous year, but does not meet” all the criteria for being designated as a CPC to a “Special Watch List” (SWL). The Wolf Act also further requires the designation of Entities of Particular Concern (EPC) for non-state actors…defined as “a non-sovereign entity that (A) exercises significant political power and territorial control; (B) is outside the control of a sovereign government; and (C) often employs violence in pursuit of its objectives.”
Doesn’t Boko Haram (still operating) and its ilk fall within non-state actor that satisfies A-C under SWL? To facilitate answers to above listed questions, this writer will lift the shepherd’s speech – via the link: https://thekukahcentre.org/index.php/bishop-kukahs-speech-at-the-launch-of-the-acin-2025-world-report-on-religious-freedom-in-theworld/
Writer: Are there killings and bloodshed in Nigeria which is targeting a group of people?
Silent Shepherd: “There have been serious concerns nationally and internationally over the deterioration of security matters in Nigeria. The reports have focused on the tragic outburst of violence that turned huge swaths of the Nigerian landscape into a huge killing field. For over 15 years…murderous gangs of Islamicists and jihadist groups have found their way into our country, wreaking havoc, destroying lives and properties….” (Para 2)
i) From his admission, for over 15 years, Nigeria has been turned into a huge killing field by murderous gangs of Islamicists and Jihadist groups with unacceptable surge in internal displacement.
Me: With such killings over 15 years, does it not constitute genocide as universally agreed by definition? Are the perpetrators not of a particular religious grouping, and targeting a grouping?
Silent Shepherd: “With the emergence of Boko Haram and the targeting of Church structures, destruction of schools, hospitals, the kidnapping of priests, the religious, seminarians and other pastoral agents, the murderous gangs invoking words like, allahu akbar as their anthem of death, there was no other way of speaking of persecution of Christians by these jihadist groups rather than calling them religious persecution targeted at Christians…Then came the sacking of communities…occupation of swaths of lands by these terrorist and murderous groups…later target Muslims who did not believe in their brand of Islam. Today, the floods of blood in Nigeria have no boundaries. This is why the debate over what is happening to us has become so confusing within and outside Nigeria. Although we cannot find the right words, the simple truth is that Nigerians are dying for a living.” (Para 3)
ii) He admits that the first targets belong to a religious group i.e., Christians, later, a Muslim sect is targeted. And, the flow of blood continued. Is he not aware that his brother shepherd in Benue was compelled by these killings to close down at least 15 Parishes, thus, denying these faithful the right to religious freedom? The fact of a new target group does not in any way take away the earlier fact that the killings target Christians, indeed, he says, it didn’t stop. With this admission, it beggars belief, how anyone will find it difficult to see Christian genocide?
Writer: Killings admitted, is the argument that Nigeria is witnessing and allowing these targeted killings factual and true?
Silent Shepherd: In paragraphs 5 and 6, he said, “We do have serious problems but these have escalated because the federal and state governments have, over the years allowed these problems to fester. The inability of the federal government and its security agencies to end these killings has created the condition for the genocide that has taken over many communities today. By whatever names we choose, the fact is that Nigerians are dying unacceptable deaths across the country. In many cases, they are targeted because of their beliefs but also because of their ethnicity. We are in the cusp of a weak state with clear lack of capacity to arrest the descent into anarchy…Nigerians feel vulnerable and unprotected irrespective of their faiths, ethnicity or social classes…It is important to restate that things were never really always like this.”
From the highlighted/underlined, it is clear as crystal, that, the silent shepherd acknowledges the government witnesses the killings, is unable to end these killings, and has allowed it to fester. Also, in many cases, the people are targeted because of their beliefs (Christianity, and ethnicity (racial genocide).
Writer: If the targeting is based on religion, why hesitate to call it ‘Christian Genocide’? To say as he did in paragraph 4 that, “The confusion over the appropriate language is understandable,” is not just disappointing, but, a clear testimonial that something is terribly gone amiss. Before now, this shepherd could never be said to be economical with the truth, neither would he be short of words to describe what is going on. Has something entangled your tongue!
Oh! Dear silent shepherd, have you forgotten the words of Our Lord, “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning…For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them (2 Peter 2 20-22).
So, I ask, how does one explain the silent shepherd’s inability to see these killings as constituting ‘Christian Genocide’? Why the reluctance to speak truth to power? What happened to the fierce shepherd of 2015 and before now? Who, or what has bewitched him? Is the bewitching so fierce and the spell so strong that he will forsake the faithful? May grace abound!
