Rising insecurity: Catholic Bishops call on FG for urgent intervention
Catholic bishops, yesterday, in Lagos decried the seeming inability of the Federal Government to arrest the insecurity in the country for the peace, unity and development of the nation.
The Catholic bishops, including the current president of Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, Most Rev. Augustine Akubeze, and two former presidents, Anthony Cardinal Okogie and Coadjutor Archbishop of Abuja, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, were all unanimous in their call for an urgent intervention to resolve the mounting insecurity in the country.
The Catholic bishops who were in Lagos for the 60th birthday thanksgiving service of the Catholic Archbishop of Metropolitan See of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Martins, expressed disgust over the growing acts of kidnapping, killings, and other violent crimes across the nation without deliberate efforts from security agents to arrest the situation. While congratulating the Lagos Archbishop for his consistence in speaking truth to power over the nation’s ills, the CBCN president, Akubeze, lamented the growing level of insecurity and urged the celebrant not to relent in his advocacy for a sane nation.
He said: “The level of insecurity in Nigeria is now unprecedented and we must not be silent while certain persons visit mayhem on the rest of the nation with so much impunity. ‘’We urge you to continue to speak truth to power because that is the way available to priests to correct the wrongs in the society. We must not see the recent mandate of government as a licence to fuel religious crises in the country,” he said.
The former CBCN president, Anthony Cardinal Okogie urged the celebrant to continue to speak truth to power, with a view to ameliorating growing societal ills in the country. Praying God to continue to guide him for locating him in Lagos, the centre of excellence which is perceived as a mini Nigeria, “you have a rare opportunity to uplift the Church of God and the people of God placed in your care. “Your Grace, you must acknowledge that the church is a unifier. As Christians, we will be contradicting our vocation if we do take a stand against corruption, tribalism, self-centredness, kidnappings, and many other societal crimes we witness daily in our country. “It is, therefore, important that as you mark this important milestone in your life, you must appreciate that your position as Archbishop, represent the ministry of bringing the children of God together, irrespective of ethnic or religious affiliations.” Vanguard
