- Title: ITALY/NIGERIA: POPE JOHN PAUL II ARRIVES IN ABUJA AT START OF THREE DAY VISIT
- Date: 21st March 1998
- Summary: ROME, ITALY (MARCH 21, 1998) (RTV) VARIOUS POPE JOHN PAUL IN LEONARDO DA VINCI AIRPORT TERMINAL, GREETED BY DIPLOMATS AND CHURCH DIGNITARIES (8 SHOTS)
- Embargoed: 5th April 1998 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ROME, ITALY / ABUJA AND ONITSHA, NIGERIA
- City:
- Country: Italy Nigeria
- Topics: General,Politics,Royalty
- Reuters ID: LVA3LMF8W3I5696UBJ6SYZ4A8M6P
- Story Text: Thousands of people have turned out to welcome Pope John Paul who arrived in the Nigerian capital Abuja at the start of a three-day trip to the west African nation.
The visit which began on Saturday (March 21), will be the Pontiff's second to Nigeria, and the Vatican considers the high point to be a special Mass on Sunday with the beatification of an ascetic local monk, Father Cyprian Tansi, who died in 1964.
The 77-year-old Pope is expected to speak about human rights during the trip, his 82nd abroad.
He arrived just after 2.30 p.m.(1330 GMT) in an Alitalia B-767, at Abuja's international airport where military ruler General Sani Abacha was waiting to meet him.
Thousands of schoolchildren and the Catholic faithful, many waving flags, gathered on the 35-km (22-mile) route to town from the airport.
The military government of Abacha, who is a Moslem like about half of Nigeria's 104 million people, has said it will do all it can to ensure the visit is a success.
Most world leaders have shunned the country because of human rights abuses and the continued detention of dozens of political prisoners.
Human rights, and particularly the plight of detainees, are expected to feature in the discussions when the Pope visits Abacha at 6 p.m.(1700 GMT).
Local Roman Catholic bishops and international rights groups have called on the Pope to intervene on behalf of Nigeria's political prisoners, estimated by Amnesty International to number around 200.
Among them is Moshood Abiola, the presumed winner of elections in 1993 which were scrapped before Abacha took power.
Preparations have been made to receive more than one million people at Sunday's special Mass near Onitsha in southeast Nigeria -- the heartland of the Ibo people who make up most of Nigeria's 12 million Catholics.
The Pope last visited Nigeria in 1982.
Vatican officials want to avoid overtiring the frail Pontiff, who turns 78 in May, particularly in temperatures that can reach over 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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