Most. Rev. Augustine Akubeze, CBCN President, said this during the opening ceremony of the second plenary of CBCN in Abeokuta on Sunday at the Sacred Heart College Hall.
Akubeze said that it remained the duty of the government to protect the constitutional rights of its citizens and also ensure peace and effective security.
He said that adequate security of lives and properties would bring about peace and would eventually lead to sustainable development.
Akubuze also the Catholic Archbishop of Benin Archdiocese condemned the recent killings of some Catholic priests in some parts of the country.
“Only recently we heard of the burning of Rev. Fr. David Tanko of Jalingo Diocese to death and only recently we heard of the killing of a priest in Enugu Diocese”, NAN quoted him as saying.
“We Catholic priests and faithful must preach daily the message of peace and justice. It is part of the message of Christ. It is part of the mission of the church.
“As missionaries, we must be harbingers of justice and peace in our land.
“We are just interested in living our lives peacefully without any fear of being kidnapped for ransom or being driven from our home land.
“Every government that fails to protect the constitutional rights of her citizens has failed. The leaders of a country should ensure peace and security of his people,” he said.
Also, the Chairperson of the conference, Prof. Catherine Eromosele, decried the continued keeping hostage of Leah Sharibu.
Eromosele said that she had spent no less than 1,980 days in the custody of Boko Haram, and urged the Bishops to keep her matter land others abducted alive.
Eromosele appealed to the Catholic clerics to urge the Federal Government to do all that is possible to ensure their release without further delay.
