Rome,
26 February 2014
As
the Christian community of Nigeria suffers two large-scale terror
attacks in the course of a week, Luca Volontè, Chairman of the
Dignitatis
Humanae Institute, spoke of his outrage at the
disregard displayed by Western governments:
"For
four years, Boko Haram has conducted a campaign of mass slaughter and
wanton destruction. Like a cancer, their reach and influence has been
allowed to spread unchecked, the number of innocents dead now ranges
in the thousands, the extent of property and communities destroyed
incalculable. While European officials rush to Kiev to take
undeserved credit for the hard-won liberty of Ukraine's people, they
seemingly ignore the suffering of those in Nigeria.
As
has repeatedly been made clear by Nigerian officials, the domestic
security and military services lack the expertise to conduct an
effective counter-insurgency campaign. As it was in Mali, it is our
duty to give our full support to the besieged communities and make
available any means that they so require."
Last
week saw Boko Haram (which means "Western education is a sin")
conduct two attacks on predominantly Christian towns - Bama and Igze
- the latter of which had only been attacked three weeks previously.
With the use of sophisticated military hardware, the Islamist
attackers destroyed public buildings, burned Churches and killed over
one hundred people in each attack. The savagery and scale of the
raids further demonstrates the inability of Nigeria's security forces
to prevent the murderous campaign of Boko Haram, despite a State of
Emergency already being in place.
In
a statement unlikely to give much solace to the besieged population
of Nigeria, US Ambassador James Entwistle pointed the finger to
underlying social causes for the rise of Islamist terrorism,
including the 'lack of employment opportunity' and 'the education
system.' Luca Volontè retorted:
"Given
their expressed desire to enforce an Islamic state upon all, ruled by
Sharia Law in its entirety; I doubt that tinkering with the nations'
employment opportunities or the education system is likely to
convince Boko Haram to give up its weapons. Rather than blaming a
suffering society for the intent of their attackers, it is imperative
that all unequivocally reject the agenda of Boko Haram. As we have
seen in Sri Lanka, with the right conviction and the necessary means,
terror groups can be suppressed and the rule of law restored."
The
Dignitatis
Humanae Instituteaims
to uphold human dignity based on the anthropological truth that man
is born in the image and likeness of God and therefore has an innate
human dignity of infinite worth to be upheld. The Institute promotes
this understanding by supporting Christians in public life, assisting
them to present effective and coherent responses to increasing
efforts to silence the Christian voice in the public square.
