How one Catholic group is fighting for justice in Nigeria’s troubled prison system

by Linus Unah September 24, 2019

For nearly two decades, Nigeria has been struggling to reform its congested prison system. Courts grapple with huge backlogs of cases, compounding delays in the delivery of justice and contributing to prison overcrowding.

Women walk along a street Feb. 20, 2016, in Asmara, Eritrea. The nation's bishops said that because of years of war and unrest, "young people, mothers, children and families have become victims of exile and of destabilization." (CNS photo/Thomas Mukoya, Reuters)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

In Eritrea the cost of speaking up may be nation’s Catholic health care network

by Linus Unah July 2, 2019

On June 12, Eritrean authorities closed all 22 of the nation’s church-run health care facilities.

Dispatches, Politics & Society

Nigerian sisters take on the fight against human trafficking

by Linus Unah March 22, 2019

A combination of a rapidly growing population, extreme poverty, unemployment and armed conflict push people to cross Nigeria’s porous borders in search of a better life.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, left, and outgoing president Joseph Kabila sit side by side during the inauguration ceremony in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo on Jan. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

A peaceful, if not controversy-free, transition in D.R. Congo

by Linus Unah January 28, 2019

Just one other African head of state, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, was seen at the inauguration after the African Union and others in the international community expressed reservations about the election.

A security guard checks a handheld metal detector outside St. Hillary's Catholic Church in Maiduguri, Nigeria. Guards have intercepted suicide bombers attempting to enter the church compound. (Linus Unah)

Faith, Features

The uncommon faith of a country decimated by Boko Haram

by Linus Unah August 10, 2018

The militant Islamist group Boko Haram has decimated villages in northern Nigeria, but Catholic parishioners remain faithful and courageous.

Nigerians carry placards during a May 22 protest in Lagos against the killing of innocent citizens, presumably by herdsmen, in some parts of the country. Catholics marched in various cities around the country. (CNS photo/Peter Dada)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

Can the church in Nigeria stop the violence between herders and farmers?

by Linus Unah May 29, 2018

Benue State is in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. This region, a hotbed of sectarian unrest, has suffered particularly because of clashes between largely Muslim Fulani cattle herders and mostly Christian farming communities.

A woman religious fills out a voter registration document on Jan. 31 in Abuja, Nigeria, for the country's 2019 presidential and general election. (CNS photo/Afolabi Sotunde, Reuters)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

The church in Nigeria champions voter registration drive

by Linus Unah May 10, 2018

Using pastoral letters and circulars with exhortations on civic duty, as well as pulpit and parish bulletin announcements, the church has been informing voters on the importance of exercising their right to vote.