Nigerian cardinal says nation threatened by ‘twin monsters’
May 03, 2013
Addressing the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament in Brussels, Cardinal John Onaiyekan of Abuja said that Nigeria was threatened by the “twin monsters of corruption and insecurity.”
Corruption, said the prelate, “has generated extremely high levels of mistrust among the population, which feeds into the other daily menace: insecurity.”
“Very often the criminals are better armed than the Nigerian security forces,” he said in reference to Boko Haram. Cardinal Onaiyekan said that the Islamist terrorist group was receiving arms from Libya.
Citing the Church’s numerous schools, hospitals, and other apostolates, the cardinal added that “the Catholic Church is concerned about the well-being of all Nigerians, not only those baptized in our churches. We are 170 million Nigerians, roughly half are Christians from different denominations and half are Muslims, also of different groups. Catholics are still the largest single-faith group in the country, so we have considerable influence and responsibility.”
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