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Abuja (Agenzia Fides) – “I don’t think our government is serious again. I will just say that because if you look at our town here in Akure, Akure is being invaded. These strange people are coming in—where are they coming from? And the government will say they don’t know what is going on?” said Msgr. Jude Ayodeji Arogundade, Bishop of Ondo in his homily at Palm Sunday Mass, the day after the kidnapping of three people in the early hours of Saturday, March 28, at the Oke Ijebu Integrated Health Center in Akure, the state capital in northeastern Nigeria. Because of this latest episode of violence, health services in the state are at risk of disruption due to the threat of a boycott of night shifts by nurses and midwives.
Bishop Arogundade has appealed to state and federal authorities to guarantee the safety of citizens, which he says is threatened by what he calls "strange people" who "are are particularly taking hold of strategic places, and everybody is looking helpless, until they begin to strike and kill people again." Without naming him, the Bishop of Ondo criticized the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, who had described the criminals operating in northeastern Nigeria as "prodigal sons." "The person who should be looking after Nigeria's security said just last week that these terrorists are prodigal sons. My goodness, how do you minimise the enormity of what these guys have done against this country?" Bishop Arogundade stated. These people "have practically declared war against Nigeria, its government, and all the law-abiding citizens of this country. And you call them prodigal sons? The prodigal son in the Bible didn’t kill his father, nor did he kill his brother to take over property. The prodigal son went, he lost everything, and he was caring for the swine. He didn’t kill the owner of the swine to take over everything,” the bishop emphasized, calling for General Oluyede's resignation. “In a civilized country, that man should resign,” he stated, adding, “We lost 41 people here in my diocese, and those who killed them are prodigal sons? I don’t think this country is serious. We Nigerians say they don’t know what is going on. It’s getting to that time when we have to ask the obvious question.” Bishop Arogundade concluded by inviting the faithful to pray: “We have to pray—that is our duty as Christians. We have to pray, but at the same time, the government has to take responsibility. Not until people say, it has deteriorated… I used to be one of those who doubted whether this is really a genocide. It is happening, and it is spreading like wildfire.”
General Oluyede made these remarks during the inaugural lecture of the Joint Doctrine and Warfare Centre (JDWC) at the Nigerian Army Conference Centre in Abuja. His comments come amid ongoing criticism of “Operation Safe Corridor,” the military deradicalization program aimed at rehabilitating and reintegrating surrendered ex-insurgents. Addressing skeptics who maintain that terrorists “must be eliminated” for their crimes, Oluyede advocated a more nuanced approach, emphasizing the need for alternative pathways for those willing to abandon violence. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 30/3/2026)
