The soul of a nation is tested not in times of prosperity, but in its response to the voices that rise in defence of the suffering. Nigeria, once more, stands at a moral precipice as it flirts with the disgraceful possibility of persecuting a man whose only crime is telling the truth. In a passionate and daring press release, the Nigerian Catholic Diocesan Priests Association (NCDPA), Makurdi Diocese, has issued a solemn warning to the state: that Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe, CMF, must not be harassed, arrested, or in any way silenced for courageously exposing the persistent bloodletting and displacements that plague Benue State and the wider Middle Belt region. This is not merely a diocesan concern; it is a national litmus test of whether Nigeria still honours freedom of speech, moral integrity, and religious liberty.

Bishop Anagbe, whose episcopal voice has become a beacon of conscience amidst the gloom of government inaction, is now allegedly under threat of arrest. Reports suggest that an international embassy in Abuja has conveyed warnings of a possible arrest warrant awaiting him upon his return to Nigeria. Such a move, if it occurs, will not only be a grave injustice but a definitive statement that Nigeria has chosen to criminalize truth. Bishop Anagbe’s interventions, far from being political provocations, are pastoral responsibilities rooted in the Gospel’s call to defend the poor and oppressed. Since his appointment in 2014, he has never wavered in calling out the brutalities visited upon his people—homes razed by invading militias, churches torched, farmlands desecrated by cattle, and entire communities left desolate. His is not the voice of a rebel, but of a shepherd broken by the wounds of his flock.

This travesty recalls chilling moments in global history when truth-bearers were branded enemies of the state. Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador, who was assassinated at the altar for condemning the regime’s cruelty, Cardinal Stefan Wyszy?ski who defied communist Poland, and even the indomitable Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned for daring to dream of a just society—all stood where Bishop Anagbe stands today. The similarities are stark and harrowing. In all these instances, the state sought not justice but silence. But the voice of conscience, once awakened, cannot be caged. To threaten Bishop Anagbe is to revive these dark chapters and expose the state’s desperation to bury the truth beneath the rubble of intimidation.

The priests of Makurdi Diocese, in an unprecedented show of unity and resolve, have declared that they stand firmly behind their Bishop. Their tone is not one of defiance, but of righteous indignation and moral clarity. They remind the nation and the world that the killings in Benue are not fiction. These atrocities, documented and lamented by victims and clergy alike, are as real as the graves that litter the land. To speak of these horrors is not sedition; it is salvation. To denounce the slaughter of innocents is not provocation; it is priesthood in its purest form.

What Nigeria needs now is not to sharpen its instruments of suppression, but to mend its broken soul. The path to peace lies not in arresting prophets, but in heeding them. When a nation begins to fear its truth-tellers more than its terrorists, it has already lost its moral compass. Bishop Wilfred Anagbe should be protected, not persecuted. The voice of truth must echo, not be erased. And the Nigerian government must decide—will it be remembered as a guardian of justice, or as an oppressor of truth?

• Fr. Okhueleigbe Osemhantie à writes from Port Harcourt.