Nigerian archbishop urges Christians to avoid revenge attacks

The leader of the Catholic Church in Nigeria, Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, says he is urging Christians to avoid revenge attacks following a spate of church bombings. Pope Benedict made the same appeal when he spoke of his concern about the violence in Nigeria at his Wednesday general audience. Archbishop Onaiyekan called on the government to do more to stop the violence and suggested that it should ask Muslims to help "infiltrate" terrorist groups behind the bombings.

Listen to the extended interview by Vatican Radio's Susy Hodges with Archbishop Onaiyekan:

The leader of the Catholic Church in Nigeria , Archbishop Onaiyekan, says he is very concerned about the spate of suicide bombings: "we're all worried and even more worrisome is that our security forces can't seem to be able to identify and stop their activities" (of the terrorist groups). He also said that it is becoming increasingly difficult to persuade the faithful not to retaliate against these attacks: "Many many people say that if we keep quiet and we don't hit back, they (the terrorist groups) will continue" (their attacks).

Asked how great was the security threat posed by the attacks of the radical Islamic group, Boko Haram, Archbishop Onaiyekan replied that nobody knew for sure how large a group it was. It would seem, he says, a relatively "small group but well-organised" who are able to "cover up their tracks efficiently." Archbishop Onaiyekan also said that he had urged the government to seek Moslem help to "infiltrate" terrorist groups and that leaders from the Moslem community should attempt to reach out to them and encourage a dialogue. "I've told the government, he says, "that they need to be more serious with their intelligence work."

The Nigerian Archbishop said that contrary to what many might expect, Christians have not been deterred from going to church on Sundays despite these spate of suicide bombings targetting Christian places of worship. "The attacks," he says, "in no way stop people going to church, on the contrary it's even become an incentive" to keep on going and people are showing "admirable courage" and are not bowing to intimidation.

Archbishop Onaiyekan went on to express his regret that these terrorist attacks are creating a anti-Islamic backlash among many Christians and hampering dialogue between the two faiths: "Our inter-faith cooperation," he says, "is made all the more difficult with every bomb that explodes outside a church.. it makes me very sad."