Retired Catholic archbishop of Lagos State, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, says the spate of killings in parts of the country will ultimately force Nigerians rise up in their own self defence.
Okogie,reacting to the latest killings of innocent Nigerians in Benue and Adamawa States by herdsmen ,said the situation is getting out of hand.
He called it strange and unprecedented.
“I have never seen this kind of thing before o,” he told The Nation by phone.
He said the development has proved former Defence Minister Yakubu Danjuma right about the need for those under attack to defend themselves.
“I will like to abide by what TY Danjuma said that everybody should be ready to protect himself,” he said.
“What is happening now is proving him (Danjuma) right.
“It going to get to the point of using vigilance people for protection and whatever they use that is nobody’s business, provided your own life and property are guarded. Everybody will have to protect himself.
“We would get the police to provide protection during our celebration of the Holy Mass because that is what is provided by the government. If that is not enough and they continue to kill, let them go ahead. But every day is for the thief and one day is for the owner.”
Continuing,Okogie said:”this world belongs to us all. If you do good, you will reap it and if do bad you will reap it.
“It is not a question of being a commissioner or a governor. It is the future that matters. A good name is better than riches. It is horrible.
“Both the Bible and the Quran admonish us not to kill. This injunction is not just for Christians and Muslims but for everyone.
“We should all know that there is nemesis. If it doesn’t catch up with you, it will surely catch people after you. Life is precious and only God can give live. If you waste anybody’s life, you will get the consequence from God.”
However,he said the situation would not degenerate into a religious war.
“I don’t believe this will lead to religious war because I know that after all said and done, the good Lord will come out. He will show us the way,” he said.
Danjuma,a former chief of army staff had, in March, said in Jalingo,the Taraba State capital that Nigerians must defend themselves against attacks by killers.
“You must rise to protect yourselves from these people.If you depend on the Armed Forces to protect you, you will all die,” he said.
“This ethnic creasing must stop in Taraba, and it must stop in Nigeria. These killers have been protected by the military, they cover them and you must be watchful to guide and protect yourselves because you have no any other place to go.
“The ethnic cleansing must stop now otherwise Somalia will be a child play.
“I ask all of you to be on your alert and defend your country, defend your state.”
The Presidency daubed Danjuma’s statement shocking and scary.
It said unrestrained pronouncements were capable of encouraging criminals to defy legal and democratic institutions.