Bishops urge government to solve Sharia issue

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has urged the government to find a lasting solution to the controversy caused by the imposition of Sharia in some Nigerian states, 'The Guardian' newspaper of Lagos reported. If this were not done, the organisation said, democracy and national unity could be derailed.

CBCN President John Onaiyekan, who is the archbishop of Abuja, said on Tuesday at the opening of a four-day bishops' conference in Kaduna that "Christians are being negatively and unjustly affected. They are unjustly being deprived of their legitimate means of livelihood." He said: "Fanatics are being encouraged to molest law-abiding citizens without cause, and without attention to their freedom to practice and propagate their faith, guaranteed in the constitution."