The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has issued a blistering indictment of the country’s security failures, warning that repeated delays in responding to attacks on Christian communities are deepening fears of collusion and strengthening claims of a looming “Christian genocide.”
In a statement on Thursday, the bishops said they have received disturbing reports of security teams arriving late—or not at all—during violent assaults on predominantly Christian settlements, particularly in the Northern and Middle Belt regions.
They described the pattern of attacks as “prolonged, brutal, and devastating,” noting that several communities have been completely destroyed or occupied, while displaced persons continue to face attacks even inside camps meant to offer refuge.
“These unbearable conditions have reinforced the people’s sense of abandonment and despair,” the bishops said, adding that the scale and consistency of the violence have given credibility to genocide allegations the federal government has repeatedly dismissed.
While the clerics emphasized that Christians have borne the brunt of these targeted assaults, they condemned the wider violence that has also claimed the lives of Muslims and other innocent Nigerians across ethnic lines. Every life, they stressed, holds “sacred dignity and inestimable worth.”
The CBCN called on the federal government to urgently probe the claims of delayed or withheld military and police response to attacks, insisting that only a transparent investigation can rebuild public trust.
They also demanded swift action to apprehend those behind the recent wave of kidnappings in Kebbi, Kwara, Borno, and Niger States, warning that continued impunity is emboldening criminal networks and worsening national insecurity.