Pope Francis agrees to consider visiting Nigeria to view mayhem caused by Fulani herdsmen

POPE Francis is considering visiting Nigeria later this after being invited by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) to come and view the killings of Christians by Fulani cattle herdsmen.

Earlier this year, the CBCN wrote to the pope to come and view the ongoing slaughter of its members by heavily armed Muslin herdsmen of Fulani descent. Unease over the government's inaction to address the menace grew recently following the murder of two Catholic priests and 15 worshippers in Benue State who were killed while attending a service in a church.

Demanding international action to bring the killings to an end, the CBCN wants to show the pope around the areas where the killings took place. Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, has confirmed that the pope is considering adding a visit to Nigeria to his itinerary although a date for such a trip is yet to be fixed.

However, Cardinal Onaiyekan, said that since the pope is a head of state and head of the Catholic Church, he cannot visit Nigeria without an invitation from the federal government. He added though that since the Vatican has an ambassador in Nigeria and the federal government has an ambassador in the Vatican, arranging the visit will not be problematic as both envoys will liaise with the respective authorities.

Cardinal Onaiyekan said: “Both the government and the church will be responsible for the visit. In other words, a pope will not visit a country if the government of that country does not invite him.

“We have not reached the stage of contacting the government yet as all the formalities will normally start after there is a tentative decision by the pope to visit. There is no point telling the government to be making moves if the pope is not thinking yet of visiting."