Bishops of Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA) have appealed to governments at all levels not to truncate the people’s rights to freedom of worship.

Addressing reporters at a meeting in Abuja on Tuesday the Apostolic Nuncio of the conference, Bishop Augustine Kasujja, said people were being persecuted under the guise of culture and that there was an urgent need to reverse the trend.

“By this type of persecution, one is persecuted not because one confesses Christ but because one wants to have and manifest the values of the children of God.

“In that sense we see everyday certain authorities making modern laws which oblige individuals or the entire nation to adopt legislations which they would not have desired.

“Such a persecution goes against the freedom of the people and even against their conscience,” Bishop Kasujja stressed.

The Catholic Archbishop of Nigeria, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, who fielded questions from reporters at the occasion, advised the government of Kaduna State to ensure the peaceful co-existence of all persons in the state.

He stressed the need for the government to ensure that while enacting new legislations the basic religious freedoms guaranteed to citizens by the Nigerian Constitution would in no way be touched.