Parishioners defy Boko Haram threat to bury victims of the Madalla bombings

Posted by admin Headlines, State News Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

Agony, anger, sorrow yesterday characterized the mass burial of victims of Christmas Day 2011 bomb blast, which Boko Haram claimed responsibility. They were laid to rest at the church’s premises. The Islamist sect sent 43 worshippers of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State, to their early graves last December 25. The victims include babies. Widespread condemnation trailed the incident. Although the scene was gloomy, the funeral mass had all the features of the farewell meant for heroes and martyrs as the Catholic clergies, other Christian leaders and members of the public filled the church’s premises and spilled over to the road. As early as 8.00am, the church hall was already filled as the faithful defied the fear of possible attack and came in large crowd to bid the victims farewell in the mass burial. At 10:00am, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Minna and the Chief Celebrant at the concelebrated mass, Martin Igwe Uzoukwu, commenced the mass with the hymn; ‘Do you know there is another fellowship in heaven?’ Delivering the homily, the metropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Onaiyekan, said we live in a country where many are dying everyday, but that the Madalla incident was ‘dying with a difference.’ According to the immediate past president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), “we live in a country where many are dying day in, day out. People are dying in sickness and in accidents, in inter-tribal conflicts and terrorist attacks.“But what has brought us here today, is dying with a difference. They were killed indiscriminately: innocent men, women and children. They were killed in their place of worship, and on Christmas day, the festival of peace and joy.” Onaiyekan said: “Their killing reminds us of the biblical story of the massacre of the Holy Innocents told within the context of the first Christmas (Matthew 2:16-18). The wicked King Herod ordered the killing of hundreds of innocent children of Bethlehem for fear of a new-born king, Jesus. “The Church venerates these children as martyrs, even though they did not know what was happening to them. There is surely some grounds here to draw a parallel. Our brothers and sisters did not go to Church on Christmas morning to get killed for Christ. But they were killed in their worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Furthermore, they were killed in an atmosphere of threats and rumours of violence intended to discourage them from going to church. Like the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, they deserve to be listed among the martyrs who died for the sake of and in the name of Jesus,” Onaiyekan said. While stating that the gathering was not to bury the dead but to celebrate the victorious entry of martyrs into paradise, the immediate past president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), further said that in all this, the role of the state remains crucial. “We pray that those in charge of our security and safety, will have the wisdom to know how best to tackle the problem on our hands, and the courage to do what needs to be done,” Onaiyekan prayed. Onaiyekan asked that the dead, from their vantage point in heaven, intercede for our nation, to pray for the peace and tranquility in our nation and for an end to wanton destruction of lives and disruption of good relationships among peoples. In his remarks, the representative of the President and the Chapel Administrator, State House, Pastor Abba Mshelia, said the incident was tragic and believed that there will be an end to the particular security crisis. -Sunwp_posts