By Peter Bugden
NIGERIAN priests in Brisbane archdiocese are keeping a close watch on what is happening in their homeland as Islamic militants Boko Haram continue to terrorise the north-east of the country.
Although from Umuahia diocese in Nigeria’s south-east, some of the priests have relatives and friends living in the north-east and people from all parts of the African nation cannot help but be disturbed by Boko Haram’s slaughter of thousands of people.
Moorooka Salisbury parish priest Fr Henry Maduka said the crisis was no longer just a problem for Nigeria but was engulfing other countries such as Niger.
“It’s a very horrible situation,” Fr Maduka said.
“A Nigerian newspaper I was reading (the other day) was saying that 1.5 million people are displaced up north and more than 14,000 people have been killed.”
Being from the south-east of Nigeria, Fr Maduka said “we hear of this but we don’t experience it”.
“We experience it from a distance because our people up north are displaced,” he said.
Fr Maduka said he had three cousins living in the north who had been determined to remain there.
“The only thing they did was to bring their children down (to the south-east). (The children) are now living with (the cousins’) parents and grandparents.”
Fr Maduka said the Church was also suffering “because it is always a target”.
The positive side was that “the Church is still alive there”, he said.
“The people are keeping their faith – going to church every day and on Sunday.
“We are broken but not divided,” he said.
Burleigh Heads associate pastor Fr Lucius Edomobi was reluctant to comment because he did not have a full picture of what was happening but said “people are concerned, definitely”.
“Some people have relatives living in the north, and they are affected,” he said.
He said Nigerians were “really scared” about what might unfold with elections being held on February 14.
Petrie parish priest Fr Chima Ofor said people outside north-eastern Nigeria “are not concerned about their own security but they are concerned about what the outcome of this election will be”.
Fr Ofor said people were concerned about possible violence after the election.
“People with relatives (in the north-east) are asking them to come back from there until after the election,” he said.
“At the moment people are being killed and nothing is being done about it …”
Fr Ofor said that caused people to be concerned about the protection of life and property after the election.
He said he had no relatives in the north-east but some of his brothers went there on work-related business.
“In that sense I’m concerned about it,” Fr Ofor said, and he said people in the south-east had relatives across the country.
He said it was “a very disturbing situation”.
“It’s affecting the whole country,” he said.
Fr Ofor said although people in the north may be worried that Boko Haram “might move from one state to another … at this stage I don’t think people are concerned it will spread to the rest of the country”.
“We continue to pray,” he said.
