Catholic leader claims Nigeria’s military has become ‘jihadist force’

YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – While the Nigerian military is playing down a recent armed incursion at several Christian churches in the southern part of the country, describing it as part of a search for gunmen who had killed two soldiers, some Catholic observers detect a dangerous turn towards an Islamic-backed government explicitly targeting Christian communities.

On August 18, soldiers reportedly stormed three Catholic parishes in Umunze, a community in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State, along with an Anglican church and several Pentecostal centers. Local newspapers say the military forces dispersed worshippers after two of their colleagues had been killed in the area.

The military has rejected claims of an assault on the churches, saying rather that the troops conducted a cordon and search operation.

“During the operation, the troops evacuated the people who were considered vulnerable if a shootout ensued to avoid collateral damage,” said the Director of Army Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu.

“Basically, the cordon and search on the community was to enable the troops to effect the arrest of some accomplices who escaped with gunshot wounds and blood stains from the attack that killed two of our troops,” Nwachukwu said.

“Available information indicated that they were receiving treatment within the locality and the cordon was lifted after the search, but unfortunately the suspects had already left the building to which they were traced,” he said.

That explanation, however, doesn’t sit well with Emeka Umeagbalassi, Director of the Catholic –inspired NGO the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, known as “Intersociety.”

In comments to Crux, Emeka said the operation at the churches is part of a wider attack on Christianity in Nigeria, and described the narrative of the military as “perfidious.”

“Three Catholic parishes, not just one, were raided. Parishioners were violently dispersed, the congregants sacked, and the church services disrupted, even in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament,” Emeka said.

Emeka claimed that 90 percent of what the Nigerian army said about the operation is false. He wondered how an attack on soldiers that took place on Thursday could have links to church services on a Sunday.

He said it was hard to understand how the military could disrupt services in several churches, including Saint Joseph Catholic Church, Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Saint James Anglican Church and several Pentecostal churches, looking only for a single gunman who did not kill a soldier in church.

“What is the business between the shooting incident that happened on a Thursday and the Sunday church services that took place on Sunday, almost three days after?” Emeka asked.

A criminologist, Emeka questioned the presence of the military in the region, suggesting that it could be complicit in the kidnappings for ransom that have become common currency, particularly in eastern Nigeria.

“Cases of kidnappings are very, very rampant. They are happening almost every day. Yet, you have military roadblocks all over the place. Sometimes, it is strongly suspected that those kidnappers grease the palms of the military after any successful operation.”

Emeka accused the military of having become “a branch of a government jihad, a state jihad.”

“In fact, we are no longer the security forces of Nigeria. We are no longer the armed forces of Nigeria. We are no longer the Nigerian police force. We are the jihadist forces of Nigeria. We are the jihadist forces of Nigeria, maintained by the jihadist government of Nigeria.”

The recent assault on Christian churches highlights a larger pattern of attacks on Nigeria’s Christians, not only by the security forces but also by jihadist groups.

Within the past week, over 70 Christians were killed and 20 Catholic medical students kidnapped in separate incidents in Benue state alone.

Since 2009, Nigeria has been battling against Boko Haram terrorists bent on creating a caliphate across northern Nigeria, but other terrorist organizations have since joined in, with Christians as a  primary target.

According to Genocide Watch, 62,000 Christians in Nigeria have been murdered in genocide perpetrated by Islamist jihadist groups including Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Fulani militias since 2009.

A few examples of particular incidents suffice to ring home the levels of persecution faced by Nigeria’s Christians.

In June, 2022, over 50 Christians were killed at the St. Francis Xavier Church in Owo state, Nigeria. The Nigerian government attributed the massacre to ISWAP, while local eyewitnesses blamed Fulani militias.

In 2022, four Catholic priests were murdered in Nigeria, and an additional 23 priests and a seminarian were kidnapped.

In December last year, around 140 Nigerian Christians were massacred near Jos.  Fulani jihadist militias also targeted Christian farming communities across Plateau State, with a death toll of 200.

Emeka told Crux that while these atrocities are going on, church leaders in Nigeria often have looked the other way.

“Unfortunately, one of the major weapons we have is not being used. That is church leaders in Nigeria. I don’t know what happened to them. Their mouths have been gagged. Their mouths and lips have been gagged,” he said.

He called on the international community, NGOs and the media to continue mounting pressure on the Nigerian government to take the issue of defending Christianity more seriously.