Christian Genocide In Benue State: Nigerian Priest Says Fr. Chidi Phillip Is A Total Disgrace To The Catholic Priesthood
Christian Genocide In Benue State: Nigerian Priest Says Fr. Chidi Phillip Is A Total Disgrace To The Catholic Priesthood
A Nigerian Priest, Fr. Chidi Phillip, has slammed Benue state governor, Hyacinth Alia, for saying there is no Christian genocide in Benue state.
While speaking at a public function recently, the governor said he is a Reverend Father so he cannot lie about the state of insecurity in his state. According to him, indeed there is insecurity in the state but it isn’t any form of religious, ethnic, racial, national or state genocide.
He said;
‘’I am a Reverend Father so being in governance does not take that away from me. I am still a Reverend Father. I came in as a governor as a Reverend Father, I am working with the fear of God and the compassion of Christianity and humanity and at the end of the day, I am still going back to the church as a Reverend father and a Christian.
In my state of Benue, we do not have any religious, ethnic, racial, national or state genocide. We don’t have that. Do we have a number of insecurity in the state? Yes we do but it is not a genocide” he said
Reacting to the governor’s comment, Fr Phillip in a post shared on Facebook, described the governor as a ‘’total disgrace to Catholic Priesthood.”
He argued that instead of standing with the persecuted, instead of crying out for his people, instead of defending the Church, Alia defends the narrative that “benefits politicians.”
He wrote
”Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia is a total disgrace to the Catholic priesthood.
Even though he is no longer in union with the Church because of his political ambition, choosing a political throne over priestly vows, the mark of ordination never disappears. Once a priest, always a priest. And because of that, we expect truth, courage, and moral clarity from him, not political gymnastics.
While communities in Benue have been wiped out, churches burnt, farmers murdered, women assaulted, and villages taken over, Governor Alia stands before the world and boldly declares:
“There is no religious genocide in Benue.”
A Catholic priest trained for years to defend the weak now turns around to defend power. A man ordained to speak truth now speaks like a man terrified of losing his political seat.
Tell me, what could be more shameful than a shepherd who denies the suffering of his own flock?
The Church was right to forbid priests from holding political office. Politics demands compromise. Priesthood demands truth. And when a man tries to mix both, truth is always the first casualty.
Instead of standing with the persecuted, he stands with those who want the world to believe nothing is happening. Instead of crying out for his people, he cries out to protect his government relationships. Instead of defending the Church, he defends the narrative that benefits politicians.
How does a man who once preached the Gospel become compromise about injustice because power tastes sweet?
I am ashamed, deeply ashamed of you, my senior brother priest. Not because you became a governor. But because you opened your mouth and denied the suffering of the very people you vowed before God to serve.
You may silence your voice for politics, but history will never silence your words. Generations will remember the day a Catholic priest stood and told the world that the blood of his people does not count.
History will not forget you padre, not for greatness, but for betrayal. I am praying for you big bro.
Padre, I know you are just trying to secure a second tenure. But for Christ’s sake, speak the truth for once. Consider the lives of your own people. It is better to be remembered as a priest who sacrificed his position to save his people than as a priest who ignored the blood in his land because of his second-tenure ambition.”
