AFRICA/NIGERIA - "The kidnapping of the girls in Chibok has united the Country", said the Bishop of Sokoto

Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - The abduction of about 200 students from the school in Chibok, in northern Nigeria, has joined the Country and caused a wave of international solidarity. This was stated by His Exc. Mgr. Mathew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of Sokoto, during the moment of prayer for the release of the kidnapped girls. "No single event has held our country together and elicited attention and sympathy the way this tragic incident has done" said the Bishop.
Emphasizing the power of prayer, Mgr. Kukah said that "we gather not in bitterness, hurt or in self-pity. We gather in faith and trust, believing that the one who sees all that is done in secret, will reward our long waiting. To gather in anger or bitterness would be to fall victim and enlist in the army of the devil. We are higher than that and our faith calls us to greater nobility".
While thanking the nations of the world that have offered to help save the girls, Mgr. Kukah called on Nigerian politicians to action: "those who govern us appreciate that we have a country to build? Will our politicians understand that we have a future to nurture? Will they realize that government is so serious that it should never be left in the hands of politicians?". (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 23/05/2014)