Catholics in Nigeria have dressed in black on Ash Wednesday to protest the spate of insecurity across the country.
Their action follows a directive from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) for the faithful to wear black or at least black armbands as a sign of mourning and solidarity with the victims of kidnapping and other violent crimes.
Ash Wednesday kicks off the Lenten season in the church’s calendar.
A statement signed by the CBCN President, Archbishop Augustine Akubeze, will be read at masses across Catholic churches on Wednesday.
The church will also hold a ‘Day of Prayer Procession’ against “the repeated barbaric executions of Christians by the Boko Haram insurgents and the incessant cases of kidnapping for ransom linked to the same group.”
“May we, once again, remind all the arms of the government in Nigeria and all whose responsibility it is to protect Nigerians that without security there can be no peace, and without peace, there can be no development or national growth,” the statement read.
