PRO Life/Anti-AIDS Campaign Movement of the Pope John Paul Major Seminary, Okpuno, Awka South LGA, Anambra State, weekend, organised a two-day seminar to sensitise, educate and create awareness on the sacredness of life and how abortion is a threat to the unborn and procreation.
Since its inception in the year 1995, it has become an annual event, with this year’s theme tagged, “Abuse of Life in Nigeria Contemporary Society”.
The event started with a march from the seminary in Okpuno, through the streets of Awka to Eke-Awka Market, displaying various messages.
President of the Pro-life Movement, Chukwudebelu Peter-Paul said that the march was to sensitise people on life sacredness.
“This movement is aimed at protecting the unborn children and it strictly frowns at abortion. A lot of people think that life begins when you are born; when in fact, life begins at the womb. Life begins at conception.”
He also said that the movement also promotes celibacy amongst un-married people as pre-marital sex is the leading factor in unwanted pregnancy.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Anambra Newspapers and Printing Corporation (ANPC), Sir Chuka Nnabuife, encouraged the Pro-Life members not to give up in their quest to change the society.
“The issue of pro-life and pro-choice is a global one and as a fact, these ideologies played a big role in the recent presidential election of the United States.” He promised to continue to identify with the organisation in every possible way.
The initiator of the Pro life/Anti-AIDS Campaign Movement in the school, Rev Fr George Adimike, reminded the seminarians and their guests that the Pro Life Movement is a battle between the culture of life and death.
He charged the seminarians to always identify with life and encouraged them to use their youthful time to serve God not minding if there is any reward or not.
Speaker of the day, Dr Okey Umeano, centered his lecture on the abuse of human lives in Nigeria at all levels and also decried the rise of abortion in the country, despite the fact that abortion is illegal in the country.
“The Nigerian police and non-state actors regularly commit human right violations including unlawful killings, torture and other ill treatments and enforced disappearances, violence against women and failure to protect the lives of children”. Our youths took to the streets to protest the unbearable abuse of lives in the country and what they got is death in the hands of people that receive salary from tax payer’s money,” he further said.
Dr Umeano also bemoaned the increase of abortion in the country. Countering the argument that a foetus is just clump of cells, he educated the audience on the moral and scientific reasons why a foetus is an independent human life and not just cells and further stressed that abortion does not have any positive impact.
