The Catholic Bishop of Maiduguri Diocese, Most Rev. Oliver Dashe, on Saturday called on Christians to intensify prayers over the insecurity situation in the country, saying prayers had the capacity to crush Boko Haram.

The bishop made the call while addressing newsmen shortly after a church session organised to mark the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The cleric commended the relative peace Borno State had enjoyed in recent times after more than a decade of insurgency, but insisted that while prayer was key to achieving more success, individuals and the government must continue to play their part to ensure total victory.

Dashe described the church session as “an important day” for the Catholic Church, while noting that Mother Mary had played a significant role in the lives of people in the diocese.

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.”

Speaking on the importance of prayers in the fight against insecurity, the bishop said Christians must be “alerted” through commitment to prayers.

“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.

The religious leader further stated that the current level of peace in the state could be attributed to the intervention of “Mother 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.

He, however, called on the government at all levels to do the needful by supporting security agents to take the fight to terrorists’ strongholds.

“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. (The PUNCH)

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