Christians mark Ash Wednesday, begin 40-day Lent

Christians world over, on Wednesday, marked the Ash Wednesday, which commemorates that 40 days of Lent (fasting) of the Christian faith, a season of Fasting, Prayer and almsgiving.

The Catholic Bishops of Nigeria were quoted in a statement asking faithful to wear black or at least black armbands as a sign of mourning and solidarity with the victims of kidnapping and other violent crimes.

At today’s “Day of Prayer Procession” to kick off the Lenten season and protest the state of insecurity in the country, Catholics dressed mostly in black attended the Ash Wednesday service in Our Lady Queens of Nigeria in Abuja.

The aim is to show their grievances over the killings and insecurity ravaging the country as Nigeria continues to grapple with security challenges.

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The statement signed by the president of the CBCN, Archbishop Augustine Akubeze, will be read at masses across Catholic churches today.

The church said it is aware of its moral responsibility, while also calling on the government to live up to its responsibility of protecting Nigerians.

The march, scheduled for Ash Wednesday, is against “the repeated barbaric executions of Christians by the Boko Haram insurgents and the incessant cases of kidnapping for ransom linked to the same group.”

Emphasizing the importance of peace, the statement reads: “May we, once again, remind all the arms of the government in Nigeria and all whose responsibility it is to protect Nigerians that without security there can be no peace, and without peace, there can be no development or national growth.”