AFRICA/NIGERIA - "Let us seek the path of dialogue to end violence", says to Fides Cardinal Onaiyekan

Thursday, 26 June 2014

Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - "There is no way to prevent this kind of attacks. You cannot block a city like Abuja" says to Fides Agency His Eminence Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, Archbishop of Abuja, the federal capital of Nigeria, where yesterday a bomb exploded in a shopping mall causing the death of 21 people. The attack has not been claimed but it is suspected to have been committed by the Boko Haram Islamic fundamentalists, who in recent days have been responsible for the kidnapping of 90 young people, including girls, boys and children, after the raid in some villages in the north of the Country. The group already has about 200 girls who they abducted in their school in April.
"We have to try to dissuade the perpetrators of these crimes from continuing to commit them", said Cardinal Onaiyekan. "I hope that the government is pursuing this path, because the only way to stop such attacks is to prevent people from moving freely, with frequent checkpoints along the roads. This is clearly impossible, because we would have chaos in Abuja. Already now, when controls are strengthened, people complain about the queues and delays".
The Cardinal then indicates the path of dialogue to stop violence: "In Nigeria, we lived for many years in peace, without attacks. It is therefore necessary to understand the causes of violence. I realize that it is not easy at a political level, but we must be ready to discuss with those who commit these violent acts". (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 26/06/2014)


Share: