By Justina Asishana, Minna; Oyebola Owolabi, Lagos; Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja and Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

Catholic Head, Pope Francis; Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; his Ogun State counterpart, Dapo Abiodun and Alaafin of Oyo Lamidi Adeyemi have urged the Federal Government to adopt concrete steps to end banditry, kidnapping and herders-farmers clashes.

While the Pope said  it “is sad that we continue to repeat the same thing over and over again,” Oba Adeyemi  likened  the current security situation in the country to the early military interregnum in 1967.

Also, Sanwo-Olu  lamented that “farmers and indigenes now carry out counter-attacks against innocent people”  while  Abiodun pointed out that forests had become  “places that continue to harbour criminals.”

They spoke at different fora in Minna, Niger State; Oyo, Oyo State;  Lagos, and Abuja at the weekend.

Pope Francis, represented by Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria, Most Rev. Antonio Guido Filipazzi, at the Episcopal Consecration of Rt. Rev. Monsignor Luka Slyvester Gopep, as the Auxillary Bishop of Minna Diocese I, noted that  the Federal  government  had  “continued to repeat the same thing over and over ”on the worsening security in the country.

“It is time for the government to match decisions with actions,” he advised, expressing the hope that “we all  will see a different situation very soon.”

President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Augustine  Akuneze, said   his colleagues  were  not happy with  the current insecurity in the country.

“We are very disturbed. We are praying that those who are behind this should change their mind and repent or face the wrath of God,” Akuneze stated.

Read Also: Insecurity in Nigeria: The buck must stop at president’s table

He also called “on those in power to do something about this so that it won’t get out of hand.”.

The Archbishop of Minna Diocese, Most Rev.  Martin Uzoukwu, lamented that “bandits have taken over the area that covers from Kontagora to Minna.”

At the 2021 Lagos State Interdenominational Divine Service (IDDS) at The Apostolic Church in Ketu on Sunday, Sanwo-Olu said the government and the citizenry  needed to   come together to make Nigeria surmount its contemporary challenges.

The governor advised  faith leaders and opinion molders against making utterances that could further aggravate insecurity in the country.

He warned in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS) Gboyega Akosile, that a crisis in Nigeria would be catastrophic for Africa.

His words:  “It is time for sober reflection that must bring a new beginning for our country. We have all witnessed the challenges of our country, but we need to be careful not to turn the observed crises into an ethnic or religious war. We need to guide against utterances that may stereotype anyone or their tribe. “We have a duty to isolate criminals in our communities, rather than introducing tribal spin into every crime.

“Nigeria is the largest country in Africa. Where will we go to? That’s why I said we need a new beginning, and there are no other people that can help us lower the temperature and calm frayed nerves than our religious leaders whose voices are well respected.

“As a country, we have several battles to fight but, we must refrain from adding political instability to the issues.”

Sanwo-Olu was also installed as the grand patron of Lagos Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) while Senator Oluremi Tinubu was named matron of the association at the event with the theme: “A New Beginning, A New Dawn and A New Glory.”

In Abuja, Governor Abiodun  challenged the Federal Government   to come up with an action plan on how to rid the nation’s forests of criminals.

Abiodun, who met with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, said  that criminals from neighbouring countries had been taking advantage of the porous nature of the nation’s borders to exploit Nigerians.

He admonished Serikis in OgunState to keep registers of farmers so as to determine when undesirable strangers infiltrate their ranks.

His words:   “It is our hope that the Federal Government will   now look at how to better secure our borders so that people don’t just come in,  cause crimes and run away.

“Forests  are now  places that continue to harbour criminals, we must do something about it.

“I came to brief the president on what I just shared with you, that right now, we’re enjoying relative peace, we intend to sustain that peace.”

The governor also blamed the escalation of tensions in the country  on what he described as the ethnic profiling of criminals.

Also, on Sunday, Oba Adeyemi 111,  decried the level of insecurity, saying the country has never had it this bad.

The monarch, in a statement yesterday, said   the  situation required  all Yoruba leaders to come together irrespective of political differences and speak with one voice as done in the days of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

Oba Adeyemi said restructuring of the country  was  a major solution which the Yoruba nation should push this time.

The statement, which he personally signed, reads in part: “If there is any time the Yoruba should come together and speak with one voice, this really is the time.

“Whether in terms of security or human welfare, including the safety of lives and property, I make bold to say that things have never been so bad in the country. This time is really an era of ethnoreligious suspicion among our various communities.

“The present state of national uncertainty can best be compared with the situation in 1967 during the political crisis; during the leadership of Gen, (Yakubu) Gowon.

“Coming back to the present, suffice to say that the word restructuring, which we are all demanding now is not a new phenomenon in our national polity; only that it has changed its name…”