Nigerian Government Destroys Memorial Commemorating Martyred Christians

Like the 9/11 Memorial in lower Manhattan, a public memorial park dedicated to the victims of a deadly Pentecost Sunday attack on a church in Nigeria provided consolation to those who lost loved ones.

Now, for reasons that are still unclear, the Governor of Ondo State in southwestern Nigeria, decided to demolish the public memorial. The demolition was carried out earlier this week.

On Wednesday, June 25, the Catholic Diocese of Ondo issued a statement saying that it has sought an explanation from the governor but that more than 72 hours later it had not gotten a response.

“The demolition is a violation of our common respect for the dignity of life and the memory we share of our 41 brothers and sisters who were unjustly killed,” said the statement, signed by Bishop Jude Ayodeji Arogundade.

Bishop Jude Arogundade, left, and other bishops examine the scene after the terrorist attack at St. Francis Church in Owo in 2022. Courtesy of the Diocese of Ondo

The memorial park commemorated victims of a June 5, 2022, attack on the Church of St. Francis in the local government area of Owo. The church, which accommodates some 1,200 people, was packed for Pentecost Sunday. Heavily armed men with explosives and firearms attacked, killing at least 41 churchgoers and wounding scores of others. Although Nigeria had seen much violence already, this attack took place in the southwestern region of the country that is usually relatively free of violence.

The Diocese of Ondo “unequivocally condemns and finds unacceptable the sudden and unannounced demolition of the Memorial Park in Owo,” the diocesan statement said. “This site, established by the State Government, served as a neutral and communal space for remembrance, reflection and communal healing after the June 5, 2022, terrorist attack. Its demolition seems to have renewed the pain of everyone who was affected by the attack, and justifiably so.”

Father Augustine Dada, former chancellor of the Diocese of Ondo, told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that the Church is concerned about the “level of consultation and sensitivity, given the seriousness of what happened three years ago.”

“There should have been more consultation and awareness before such an action is taken, as it affects the collective memory of those involved and also of the community as well,” said Father Dada, who now is serving in Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish in Elmsford, New York, in the Archdiocese of New York. He pointed out that when the terrorist attack on the packed church took place, most of the people who helped out were from the community, and not just Catholics. Everyone was touched by what happened and responded as best they could.”

Place of meditation and education

In that respect, he likened the memorial park to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York, a place of meditation where people can also learn about the event and people it commemorates.

“Everything was demolished, Father Dada said. “Everything was bulldozed. There’s nothing left.” To take from the people something that they find healing is “traumatizing them all over again,” he said. “As Nigerians, we should not normalize this kind of trauma.”

He’s grateful, however, that the Church of St. Francis, where the attack took place, has a memorial on its own property.

He added that the public memorial sent a message of support to those facing challenges. Now that it has been removed, however, many feel that “the government doesn’t really care.”

The central concern is the gradual desensitization to the inherent dignity of human life and to the shared experience of the victims–an indifference that extends even to the Church, which has stood closest to those affected.

The latest action in Ondo comes in the wake of the massacre of over 200 Christians in Yelewata, in Benue State. There, too, the government’s reaction could have been better, Father Dada said.

ACN continues to support project in Nigeria, particularly the training of future priests and assistance to needy priests through Mass stipends. ACN also promotes additional psychotherapeutic training for priests and religious sisters so that they can offer qualified help to traumatized victims of violence.

In areas where the situation has improved, the pontifical foundation helps the Church rebuild destroyed buildings. In crisis regions, ACN aids in implementing essential security measures, including the construction of protective walls and fences or the installation of technical equipment to protect monasteries and seminaries from violent attacks.

In September 2024, ACN also provided assistance to the Diocese of Maiduguri in northern Nigeria, which had been severely impacted by the worst flooding in 30 years, offering food, hygiene products, medicines and materials for emergency shelter.

Aid to the Church in Need is a charity dedicated to defending and aiding threatened Christians.