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From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) Most Reverend Lucius Ugorji has expressed concern that the country is currently under siege following its reoccurring security challenges .
The cleric who disclosed this in his Easter message in Owerri, the Imo State capital, said the continued kidnapping for ransom and gruesome killings of innocent citizens by criminals clearly say it all.
He said, “We are celebrating Easter this year in an atmosphere that breathes pessimism and despair. The general insecurity of life and property is heightened by the rising wave of kidnapping for ransom, and the mindless slaughtering of innocent citizens by criminal gangs.
“We seem to be a nation under siege. No place seems safe: our homes, places of
business, our highways and even the sacred precincts of places of worship.
“Government’s lack of political will to address the rising criminality across the nation, is pushing the populace to resort to self-help to defend their Iives and sources of livelihood.”
He added “Economic hardship continues to sweep across the nation on account of the withdrawal of fuel subsidies, and the floating of ihe national currency.
“The appalling economic condition is worsened, as our national debt continues to surge due to external and internal borrowings to finance budgets and infrastructural projects. Thus
the future of the present and future generations is mortgaged.
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“This state of affairs is driving many compatriots to a feeling of cynicism. Having had myriad of shattered dreams and aborted hopes, many Nigerians groan with anguished hearts as they behold a future that promises them little or nothing.”
According to the Catholic cleric, the prevailing disillusionment that reigns among the citizenry, mirrors the frustration felt by the apostles and disciples at the excruciating passion and humiliating death of Christ.
“After the crucifixion of their Lord and Master, they returned home with shattered dreams and hopes-dispirited, dejected, downcast and miserable.
“In this gloomy and cheerless context, the joyful and heart-warming Easter message resounds: God has raised Jesus to life. He would not permit death to triumph forever nor allow his people to die and perish in their helplessness.
“He desires that Christ and indeed all, should have life and have it to the full.
Amidst our feeling of despair and disillusionment, Easter has a message of hope, namely: that the darkest part of the night is the beginning of dawn.
“This message of hope underscores that even though the forces of evil might seem, at times, to have an upper hand over the good, on the long run, the good always triumphs over evil”. Ugorji stated.
