Catholic Bishops Sound Alarm On Insecurity, Costly Weddings and Food Pressures
At a time when many Nigerians are quietly adapting to hardship, the Catholic Bishops of Kaduna, Abuja and Jos provinces have stepped forward with a blunt message: insecurity, rising living costs and social pressures are stretching families to breaking point, and urgent action is needed.
Meeting in Kaduna, the bishops warned that worsening kidnappings, killings and attacks on farming communities in Northern Nigeria are fuelling fear, displacement and hunger.
They urged governments and security agencies to intensify protection of lives and farmlands, noting that peace cannot thrive where justice is weak.
The bishops also took aim at expensive wedding customs creeping into church marriages, saying these “imported practices” are turning matrimony into a financial burden for families and communities.
They pledged to guide intending couples away from needless extravagance.
On the economy, the clerics acknowledged government efforts to lower food prices but said high costs of fertiliser, fuel and farm inputs are hurting farmers, undermining food security and deepening rural poverty
They called for fairer, better-coordinated agricultural policies and stronger support for small-scale farmers.
Despite the sobering tone, the bishops shared hopeful news: the release of over 230 abducted pupils and staff of St Mary’s Catholic School, Papari, and the election of the Bishop of Yola as First Vice President of SECAM
They ended with a call for unity, dialogue and ethical use of digital media to counter misinformation, insisting that “hope never dies”.
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