Easter in Nigeria: Boko Haram will not have the final word

(Vatican Radio) “Easter tells us that all hope is not lost, we in northern Nigeria cannot let Boko Haram have the final word, it tells us that there is a greater force and therefore we should not be overcome by a terrible fear and even paranoia that we are unable to even go out to worship”, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos told Vatican Radio this Easter Sunday.

Nigerians marked Easter with heightened security against a spreading Islamic uprising, mourning the deaths of 75 bomb blast victims and fearful of the fate of 84 abducted schoolgirls.

The leader of the Islamic extremist Boko Haram group has appeared in a video claiming responsibility the bombing earlier this week in the capital of Abuja. He has said nothing about the groups’ abduction of schoolgirls that occurred the same day as the explosion. Of the 129 girls abducted from a Borno state high school, 44 have escaped.

Abp. Kaigama says the reports of the number of girls abducted are conflicting but that news of some escapes inspires some hope. He adds: “We believe that God cannot abandon us and as a Church we continue to pray and preach nonviolence and we continue to inspire confidence in the people. We should only succumb and subject ourselves to Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life and who is the Resurrection”.

Listen to Andrew Summerson’s interview with Abp. Kaigama:

(Photo, AP: Faithful attend Good Friday liturgies in Abuja, Nigeria)