One of the social responsibilities of the church is to work with other religious groups to help keep peace and harmony in the community but unfortunately in Nigeria today, the church and her members seem to be the target of all forms of violence.
In recent times, the Catholic Church in particular have faced stiffer attacks on its priests.
According to SB Morgen Intelligence, In 2022 alone, about 39 catholic priests were killed and 30 others abducted across Nigeria.
Probably for this, the Catholic Church is seeking the assistance of the electoral body, INEC and the masses to ensure a free, fair and credible election to forestall any cause of violence from the elections.
According to the Secretary-General, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Very Reverend Father Zachariah Samjumi, at a media parley in Abuja, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria had released a Pastoral letter on the 2023 Elections in Nigeria, focusing on the decorum and discipline required for the free, fair and credible conduct of the elections.
THE BISHOPS REMINDED THE CITIZENRY THAT DEMOCRACY CANNOT THRIVE IN ANY SOCIETY WHERE THE RULE OF LAW IS FREQUENTLY BREACHED AND AS SUCH, CALLED ON NIGERIANS TO, IRRESPECTIVE OF CREED OR TRIBE, PARTICIPATE FULLY IN THE ELECTORAL PROCESS, WHICH INCLUDES REGISTERING, COLLECTING THEIR PERMANENT VOTER’S CARD (PVC), VOTING AND PROTECTING THEIR VOTES TO ENSURE THEY COUNT.
They also called on INEC to eliminate all obstacles that may impede the election, including guaranteeing that BVAS will work on election day in all the 176, 846 polling units across the country, as well as the efficient electronic transmission of results from the polling units as it will engender transparency and ensure trust in the electoral process.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, the National Director of Social Communication, Very Reverend Father Mike Umoh, said, the 2023 general election offers a sign of hope in the midst of the national disaster that has befallen the country.
He said the Catholic Church has shown a lot of concern for the plight and suffering of the common man in Nigeria and the Bishops in fulfilment of their prophetic roles, draw attention of those in power to the numerous problems in the country.
Also speaking, the President SIGNIS Nigeria, Reverend Father, Patrick Alumuku, said the whole work of communication in the church in this century has become of great importance especially with social communication becoming one of the pillars under which the Catholic Church in Africa is hinged according to the just concluded African synod.
