CBCN Call On Buhari To Resign Over Incessant Killings

The Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign over the recent killings by suspected Fulani herdsmen in the country, including two Catholic priests and 15 other worshippers in Benue State.

CBCN revealed this in a statement issued by Augustine Akubeze and Camillus Umoh, its president and secretary respectively on Thursday evening.

“We are sad. We are angry. We feel totally exposed and most vulnerable. Faced with these dark clouds of fear and anxiety, our people are daily being told by some to defend themselves,” the statement read.

“But defend themselves with what? The federal government, whose primary responsibility it is to protect lives, for its part alleges that those who ask the people to defend themselves are inviting them to take the laws into their own hands.

“It is clear to the nation that he (the president) has failed in his primary duty of protecting the lives of the Nigerian citizens. Whether this failure is due to inability to perform or lack of political will, it is time for him to choose the part of honour and consider stepping aside to save the nation from total collapse.”

“Since the president, who appointed the heads of the nation’s security agencies, has refused to caution them even in the face of the chaos and barbarity into which our country has been plunged, we are left with no choice but to conclude that they are acting a script that he approves of.

“If the President cannot keep our country safe, then he automatically loses the trust of the citizens.”

The group further described the killing of the priests and parishioners in Benue as an act that was “carefully planned.”