DRE, Ibadan Archdiocese

The life of the human person has greatly come under serious attack. No century has experienced more threats to human life than the 21st Century.

This is specifically true in Nigeria, where many value wealth more than the human person. From recent happenings, many seem not to regard human life to be of any value. The number of those who have died naturally in Nigeria is less than those dead through willful murder.

The number of the dead due to such unnatural causes as abortion, ritual killing, euthanasia, kidnapping, accidental bullet discharge by police, stabbing at the slightest provocation, technical killing, herdsmen activities, Boko Haram insurgency has reached an appalling level. Other unnatural causes of death have included poisoning, mob action, assassination, drug abuse, consumption of sub-standard and expired items, and road accident as a result of poor road infrastructure.

People have similarly died from suicide as a result of hunger and the poor economy, and from bad government policy leading to frustration, improper health care, and insecurity.

In short, man has become the enemy of his fellowman, with sibling killing sibling, parents killing their own children, and relatives killing their own relatives. This awful situation may be likened or referred to as fratricide, the sin of Cain in Genesis 4:10.

 

Many lives have been lost through provocation. This is why Scripture warns against anger, hatred and vengeance which are the root of murder (Matthew 5:21-24). The fifth commandment forbids direct and intentional killing, describing it as gravely sinful. The murderer and those who cooperate voluntarily in murder commit a sin that cries to heaven for vengeance (Genesis 4:10), and in CCC 2268.

God forbids the taking of human life (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17) because human life is sacred, and involves the creative action of God. In short, he who hates his brother is regarded as a murderer (1 John 3:15). The height of hatred or anger is murder.