“Total Disgrace to Catholic Priesthood” – Nigerian Priest Criticizes Benue Governor Alia for Denying Christian Genocide

A Nigerian Catholic priest, Fr. Chidi Phillip, has sharply criticized Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia, calling him a “total disgrace to the Catholic priesthood” after the governor denied that Christians are facing genocide in the state.

Governor Alia, who is himself a Reverend Father, made the comments during a recent public function. He acknowledged the presence of insecurity in Benue but insisted it does not amount to religious, ethnic, racial, or state-sponsored genocide. Speaking about his dual role as a priest and a politician, Alia said:

“I am a Reverend Father so being in governance does not take that away from me. I am still a Reverend Father. I came in as a governor as a Reverend Father, I am working with the fear of God and the compassion of Christianity and humanity and at the end of the day, I am still going back to the church as a Reverend Father and a Christian. In my state of Benue, we do not have any religious, ethnic, racial, national or state genocide. We don’t have that. Do we have a number of insecurity in the state? Yes we do but it is not a genocide.”

Reacting to the governor’s statement, Fr. Phillip accused Alia of abandoning his moral and spiritual responsibilities. In a lengthy post on Facebook, he wrote:

“Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia is a total disgrace to the Catholic priesthood. Even though he is no longer in union with the Church because of his political ambition, choosing a political throne over priestly vows, the mark of ordination never disappears. Once a priest, always a priest. And because of that, we expect truth, courage, and moral clarity from him, not political gymnastics.”

Fr. Phillip went on to highlight the ongoing violence and suffering in Benue, including attacks on communities, burning of churches, murders of farmers, assaults on women, and the displacement of villages. He expressed outrage at the governor’s public denial of these events:

“While communities in Benue have been wiped out, churches burnt, farmers murdered, women assaulted, and villages taken over, Governor Alia stands before the world and boldly declares: ‘There is no religious genocide in Benue.’ A Catholic priest trained for years to defend the weak now turns around to defend power. A man ordained to speak truth now speaks like a man terrified of losing his political seat.”

Fr. Phillip criticized the blending of political ambition with priestly duty, stressing that priesthood demands moral clarity while politics requires compromise:

“The Church was right to forbid priests from holding political office. Politics demands compromise. Priesthood demands truth. And when a man tries to mix both, truth is always the first casualty. Instead of standing with the persecuted, he stands with those who want the world to believe nothing is happening. Instead of crying out for his people, he cries out to protect his government relationships. Instead of defending the Church, he defends the narrative that benefits politicians.”

He concluded with a plea for Alia to speak truth and prioritize the welfare of his people over political ambition:

“Padre, I know you are just trying to secure a second tenure. But for Christ’s sake, speak the truth for once. Consider the lives of your own people. It is better to be remembered as a priest who sacrificed his position to save his people than as a priest who ignored the blood in his land because of his second-tenure ambition.”