The Catholic Bishop of Maiduguri Diocese, Most Rev. Oliver Dashe, has urged Christians to intensify prayers against insecurity, saying divine intervention could bring an end to the Boko Haram insurgency.
Dashe made the call on Saturday while speaking with journalists after a church session held at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Maiduguri, to mark the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven.
The bishop noted that Borno State had experienced relative peace after years of insurgency, but stressed that prayer alone was not enough, as individuals and the government also had important roles to play in securing lasting peace.
Describing the celebration as a significant occasion for the Catholic Church, Dashe highlighted the importance of the Virgin Mary to the diocese and the various devotions undertaken by members of the church.
He said, “Today is a very important day for us in the Catholic Church. And that is the feast of the Assumption of our Lady into heaven. Our Lady has played a very significant role in the life of the Church in this diocese.
“I have been the Bishop of this diocese for the past 17 years, and as I stand here before you, it is because of her intercession.
“And so in this diocese, we embark on various devotions, including the rosary and the wearing of miraculous medals. We also go to our pilgrimage centre to reconsecrate our diocese to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, reconsecrate our families and individuals, among others.”
On the role of prayer in tackling insecurity, the cleric urged Christians to remain vigilant and committed to prayer.
“From the religious angle, we know that prayers will crush Boko Haram. However, we should know that as we pray, human beings must also do their work,” Dashe said.
“It is very important that Christians should be on alert, and one of the best ways to be alert is to be prayerful. This is what we have done today. We have come in order to pray, thank our Mother Mary and to ask for more of her own intercession in our lives, our state and our country,” he added.
Dashe attributed the relative peace currently being experienced in parts of Borno to what he described as the intervention of the Virgin Mary.
“One of the things she has done is the fact that she brought relative peace in this axis. We know that when Boko Haram crisis started about 17 years ago, it was not funny, but now, we are experiencing peace.
“People who fled have come back and are now serving their own God and that can be attributed to the intervention of our Mother Mary,” he maintained.
The bishop also appealed to the Federal and Borno State governments to strengthen the capacity of security agencies to confront terrorists and restore lasting peace.
“Therefore, I call on the government, both at the federal and state levels, to do the needful in ensuring that security personnel are able to go to the forest and mountains in order to fetch these terrorists and their members for peace to return to our state and country at large,” he said.
