Umoren arrived in Toronto in late August to lead local Nigerian Catholics on a pilgrimage to the Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, Ont., just as reports surfaced that the head of Boko Haram had been killed. But Umoren, whose archdiocese has suffered some of the worst attacks from the terrorist organization, urged caution about the reports.

The Nigerian military claims Abubakar Shekau, who has led Boko Haram into increasing violence since taking over the organization in 2011, was injured in a gun battle June 30, taken secretly to a hospital in Cameroon and then died between July 25 and Aug. 3. However, a video of Shekau was posted to the Internet Aug. 13.

While the Nigerian army claims the video is of an imposter, this is the fifth time Shekau has been pronounced wounded or dead.

“We’re not yet sure. I’m not sure the military is 100-per-cent sure,” said Umoren.

Beyond the dead-or-alive question, people should be asking whether it will make a difference, said Umoren.

“I’m not really sure whether the death of one person will make a difference in what is happening,” he said.

What will make a difference is a clearer picture of the complex reality behind the church bombings that have captured the world’s attention, the political will to address the poverty and corruption that fuels the fire, and ongoing interfaith dialogue that stresses the common ground shared by Muslims and Christians, said Umoren.

“What is important for us as religious leaders is the fact that we believe something can be done,” he said.
Church bombings and shootings with horrific death tolls have captured world media attention at the expense of more positive stories of Nigerians united against the violence.

“In the midst of all this trouble and all this killing there have been Christians protecting Muslims and there have been Muslims protecting Christians, but we don’t hear those stories,” said the bishop. “Those are the kinds of things that build the community more.”

Muslims standing around churches on Sunday mornings and Christians keeping an eye peeled outside mosques Friday afternoons are more reflective of the true state of Muslim-Christian relations in Nigeria than bombings perpetrated by a marginal group, he said. It’s not even clear that Boko Haram is religiously motivated, according to Umoren.

“I see it more as a political problem and an economic problem,” he said.

Massive youth unemployment, failures in the education system and government corruption that has worked to deny many Muslims in northern Nigeria benefits that come with indigenous status have all fed into a situation that has attracted alienated youth to Boko Haram.

“They hide under the canopy of Islam to create the trouble,” said Umoren. “Young people very often are pushed to the margin, don’t seem to have an alternative, so they are manipulated and used for certain purposes. Poverty is a factor.”

The bishop would like to see the government propose solutions that go beyond deploying elite Joint Military Task Force troops in gun battles.

“If the government had made provision to take care of unemployed youth we would probably have less of these incidents,” he said. “The fundamentalists probably would not have a ground.”

Umoren points out that statistically Boko Haram has killed more Muslims than Christians, it has carried out targeted killings of Muslim clerics who have spoken out against the movement and many of the attacks have taken place in market places, office buildings and other places “that were not really religious grounds.”

“You can’t really be certain that this really is a religious problem,” he said.

The Nigerian Church’s response has been to foster dialogue with Muslims wherever and however it can.

“We’re trying to build a bridge between the Christians and the Muslims, trying to bring in like-minded Muslims — at least to talk,” he said.

Meanwhile headlines that give the impression Christians in Nigeria are under siege aren’t quite accurate, said Umoren.

“You read the news and it’s as if everywhere is in turmoil, whereas it might not be. There is an insecurity problem, but people are going around and doing their business as usual. People are going to church as usual,” he said.

Occasionally, word spreads by text message that a particular church may be targeted. Precautions will be taken and parishioners will find another church that Sunday.

Not all Nigerian Catholics endorse Umoren’s analysis of the situation, which lines up with Cardinal John Onaiyekan’s approach as archbishop of Abuja.

“I see Cardinal Onaiyekan and Bishop (Matthew) Kukah more as diplomats than as pastors when it comes to their relationship with Muslims,” said Fr. Emmanuel Mbamu in an e-mail to The Catholic Register.

Mbamu serves as a pastor in Jos, northern Nigeria, which has been the scene of some of the most deadly church bombings over the past two years. He has spent the last summer in Toronto.

Ordinary Nigerian Christians are demanding justice and due process in an environment where Christians live in fear and face constant discrimination and harassment, said Mbamu.

“But ‘My Lords’ saw it more as ethnically and politically motivated,” said Mbamu. “Many people feel that the hierarchy appear to be betraying their flock, who have suffered so much.”

As for Umoran’s trip to Toronto, the one-time missionary with the Missionaries of St. Paul said visits to the Nigerian diaspora outside the nation is a natural part of shepherding the Church in the era of globalization.

“People move to a place and sometimes they could be isolated by where they are — by their work, the weather, all kinds of things,” he said. “They need something that can bring them together and help them to renew their faith and continue to worship God.”

Whether it’s immigrant Catholics looking for a home in their new country or African priests coming to North America, Africans are naturally part of the globalized Church, he said. Bishops in Nigeria are quite aware that various dioceses in North America and Europe have turned to Nigerian seminaries in search of priests, but there’s no concern about losing priests.

“I don’t think there is a drain in terms of ministers going across to Europe and America. I think it’s an acknowledgment of where we are,” said Umoren. “The Church is universal, number one. Secondly, the Church should be concerned with one another. The Church in Africa and the Church in Nigeria particularly, who benefited from missionaries, should be willing to share.”