Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of the Catholic Diocese of Oyo State, has pleaded to leaders and all concerned to stop the killings taking place, especially in the Northern part of the country.
Badejo made the appeal in his message to the Muslim faithful ahead of this year’s Eid-el-Fitri celebration coming up this weekend.
He said, “Eid el-Kabir, the feast of sacrifices; reminds us that God detests the killing of human beings.
“That is why God provided a ram to Abraham, our father in the faith, to slaughter, and he did not kill his son, Isaac.
“Let us all use our religions to promote peace, love, reconciliation, justice and development, not divisions, conflicts and bloodshed,” the bishop said.
The prelate made a copy of the message available to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Wednesday.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government had declared July 30 and July 31 respectively as public holidays for Nigerians to celebrate the festival.
Also, Badejo, on behalf of the priests and the laity of the Diocese of Oyo, felicitated with the Muslim faithful on the celebration of Eid el-Kabir.
According to him, all Christians and Muslims who truly worship God should change the narratives and ask themselves thought-provoking questions such as: “Why the country is still in such a poor state.
“Even as we rejoice, why do we still see in our country a high level of financial and institutional corruption, serious insecurity, unemployment, terrorism, ethnic clashes, rape, ritual killings, human trafficking, armed robbery, among other ills.’’
He also prayed that God would deliver Nigeria from the scourge of killings, and the world at large, from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I pray with all Muslim brothers and sisters at this period of the holy celebration that the all-merciful God protect you as you rejoice in your hearts and homes.
“To all Muslims in Nigeria, I say “Barka de Sallah” and many happy returns,” Badejo said.
