Nigerian Bishop Jude Ayodeji Arogundade gave a stern response to Irish President Michael D. Higgins for linking the recent massacre of Nigerian Christians with “climate change,” accusing him of opportunism.
“Thanks to the Honorable Mr. “Higgins’ reasons for this heinous massacre are unrealistic and remote,” Arogundade said in a social media post, joining others in condemning the attack and expressing sympathy for the victims.
President Higgins made a statement on June 7 regarding the shooting of nearly 50 Christians during Sunday’s Pentecost Day mass, arguing that the accusation of attacking those responsible for the attack should be condemned because the real culprit is “climate change”. massacre.
“The fact that such an attack was made on a house of worship is a particular source of condemnation, as are attempts to deport ranchers who were among the first victims of climate change impacts,” Higgins wrote.
The Irish President concluded by redefining climate change, saying that “solidarity is needed for all those who suffer not only from this terrible event, but also in the struggle of the weakest affected by the effects of climate change”. “
In response, Bishop Ondo Arogundade, where the massacre took place in the diocese, criticized the Irish president’s confusing attempt to equate terrorism with climate change.
“The suggestion or establishment of a link between victims of terrorism and the effects of climate change is not only misleading, but absolutely insulting to all those affected by terrorism in Nigeria,” the bishop said.
“Terror victims are another category that cannot be compared!” he continued. “For anyone who has followed closely what has happened in Nigeria in recent years, it is clear that climate change and the problems underlying the terror attacks, banditry and relentless attacks in Nigeria and the Sahel region are no parallels.”
Dr. Jude Ayodeji Arogundade (second from right), St. Christopher’s Inn at the New York Botanical Garden on May 17, 2012 in The Bronx, New York. (Desiree Navarro/Getty Images)
Personal items and shoes, St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Nigeria on Monday, June 6, 2022, the day after the attack on the congregation. (AP Photo/Sandy Alamba)
“Attempts to link banditry, kidnapping and heinous attacks against innocent and harmless Nigerian citizens with issues related to climate change and food security are an aberration from reality,” he said.
The Bishop also noted that anyone following the events in Nigeria will understand that “in any case, any hint of climate change policy in our current situation is completely unfounded”.
“Terrorists have been around for more than eight years in different parts of Nigeria, not for the plausible reason of killing, killing, attacking and intimidating, but because of bad weather.”
The bishop added that the widespread state of fear in Nigeria “has nothing to do with the ideology of climate change.”
Although no group claimed responsibility for the massacre on Pentecost, the prevalence of Islamic terrorist attacks in the country and the nature of the attacks targeting Christians gathered in the church leave no doubt about the religious motivation of the massacre. .
in an article on Wall Street Magazine Last Tuesday, David Curry, head of Christian persecution watchdog group Open Doors, said that Nigeria’s founding was ranked seventh on the World Watch 2022 list, which lists the countries most hostile to Christians.
More Christians were killed for their faith in Nigeria than any other country in the world, and in 2021 alone, 4,650 Christians were killed there for believing in Jesus – more than once every two hours, Curry said.
Source: Breitbart
