“It’s time to act”: Catholic Bishop in Nigeria Urges Government to End “unprovoked attacks, killing” in Benue State

“We have cried many times before, and we will continue to cry. Even if in the end nothing is done, at least it will be on record that we cried out for help, but the relevant authorities were negligent of our groaning,” he further says.

On June 13, Islamist Fulani militants attacked the town of Yelewata in Nigeria’s Benue state, reportedly killing at least 200 persons in what international aid organizations termed the “worst killing spree” in the Nigerian region.

In the attack that has been widely condemned, with Pope Leo XIV extending his spiritual closeness to victims of the massacre, the attackers reportedly targeted Christians living as IDPs, setting fire to buildings where families were taking shelter and assaulting with machetes anyone who attempted to flee.

In his June 17 message, Bishop Avenya says the solidarity prayer of Pope Leo XIV during the June 15 Sunday Angelus “is both consoling and strengthening.”

“We will not forget to acknowledge the many other persons and groups who have shown solidarity with the State and the affected persons in different forms on the overwhelming insecurity here,” the Catholic Church leader says.

He continues referring to those who have manifested generosity, “Many of them have donated resources, ranging from money and food items to other essential supplies in response to the heightening humanitarian crisis that these attacks have occasioned, while some have volunteered their services at the various camps.”

“All of these efforts, borne out of solidarity with those in need, amount to a collective appeal for peace in our State and, indeed, the entire nation,” the Local Ordinary of Gboko Diocese since his installation in February 2013 further says.

He goes on to urge Nigerian authorities to “rise up to their most important responsibility of protecting the lives and property of the citizens.”

While he acknowledges some efforts by the government, Bishop Avenya describes them as “far too inadequate, to say the least.”

He denounces what he calls a “theatre of complications,” referring to reported accusations and counter-accusations between various groups, and the seeming lack of political will to end the violence:

“Crime is crime, irrespective of who commits it, and the killing of innocent people, under whatever guise, is completely unacceptable,” he adds.

In his statement, Bishop Avenya singles out the continued attacks by Fulani herdsmen who, according to him, “have invaded communities in Benue and other states in the Middle Belt Region and beyond, killing people, displacing survivors, and boldly occupying their ancestral homelands.”

The Nigerian Catholic Bishop goes on to highlight the tireless efforts of the Catholic Church and other concerned parties who he recalls have consistently condemned the violence.

He recalls a 2015 joint pastoral letter by Catholic Bishops on Benue State titled “Let There Be Peace", which warned against rising political violence and lawlessness, as well as multiple visits and appeals made to Nigerian leaders, including meetings with successive Presidents.

“Over time, the unfortunate situation has consistently escalated, and attackers have become increasingly emboldened. Today, an average Benue citizen wakes up wondering not whether there will be tragic news, but from which corner of the State,” he laments.

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Despite the suffering, the Catholic Diocese of Gboko, Bishop Avenya says, continues to stand with the people of Benue and with others across the Middle Belt affected by such violence.

“Wounded though we ourselves are, we reach out to them in fraternal solidarity,” he says.

Expressing Christian hope in the words of St. Paul (2 Corinthians 4:8-9), the 69-year-old Catholic Bishop who started his Episcopal Ministry in January 2009 as Auxiliary Bishop Makurdi Diocese in Nigeria says, “We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed.”

Bishop Avenya calls upon all Nigerians to join hands in building peace, invoking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

“May the Blessed Virgin Mary, comforter of the afflicted, intercede for us in her maternal solicitude, and may God, with whom nothing is impossible, bring us lasting joy and peace. Amen,” the Nigerian Catholic Bishop implores in his June 17 statement.