Vatican newspaper draws attention to devastating Nigerian floods
June 04, 2025
L’Osservatore Romano devoted prominent front-page coverage in its June 3 edition to devastating flooding in Mokwa, a city in Nigeria’s Niger State.
“This is a sad event for all of us that requires solidarity and collaboration between all parties involved, regardless of religious or tribal affiliations,” said Bishop Martin Igwemezie Uzoukwu of Minna. “Be assured of our prayers and our support as we work together to rebuild the community and restore hope to our people.”
“People now need everything: food, clothes, medical supplies for the wounded,” said Father Bahago Dauda Musa, director of Caritas in the Minna diocese. “We ask the international community to help us by sending us basic necessities and by supporting the creation of a temporary camp for the displaced.”
“The flood has completely wiped out a large area with a Muslim majority, but we are mobilizing by collecting clothes and other basic necessities from Catholics that will then be donated to those who need them most,” the priest told the Vatican newspaper.
Nigeria in general, as well as Niger State, he said, “has been grappling for over 14 years with the violence of armed groups that spread pain and death with repeated terrorist attacks. While until yesterday the region of Mokwa was relatively calm from the point of view of banditry, now new tensions could arise because the aid intended for internally displaced persons caused by the guerrillas will have to be divided or totally allocated to the victims of the flood.”
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