The Bishops of Nigeria have asked Catholics to wear black on Ash Wednesday as a sign of mourning and solidarity with the victims of kidnappings and terror attacks.

In a statement due to be read in all Nigerian parishes on Ash Wednesday, the president of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Nigeria, Arch-bishop Augustine Akubeze, asks the faithful to wear black, or a black armband, and to join a “Day of Prayer Procession” to protest the crimes of the Islamist group Boko Haram.

Archbishop Akubeze goes on to condemn the public impunity of the perpetrators of such crimes, the lack of arrests of criminals by the government, and the threats made to many communities on an ongoing basis. He also called for support from the international community in the fight for security and religious freedom in Nigeria.