By Sunny Nwankwo, Umuahia
The leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Southeast and South-South has asked the federal government to deploy modern in its fight against terrorism, banditry and other crimes that have bedeviled the country.
This is even as the religious body also called on the government to improve on intelligence gathering to track and monitor the operations of the insurgents in the Northeast and other parts of the country facing insecurity.
CAN in communiqué issued at the end of a one-day colloquium on insecurity in Nigeria with the theme: The Sacredness of life, held at the Vision Africa Complex, Umuahia, Abia State capital said that they were concerned and pained by the level of insecurity witnessed in every part of the country and called on the federal government to strengthen security surveillance within and around our land borders.
According to them, the porosity of Nigeria’s borders has guaranteed free inter-country movement with little or no checks, demanding for a reversal of the Visa-on-arrival policy which they claimed has worsened insecurity in the country.
In the communique signed by South-South CAN Chairman Archbishop Dr. Ege Isreal Eniyekemini and his southeast counterparts; Bishop Dr. Goddy Okafor urged the federal government to seek the help of international community to nip the outrageous spate of terrorism, radicalism and insecurity of lives and properties of citizens in on the bud if it must ensure reconciliation and sustainable peace.
The Christian group while calling for the rejigging of the service chiefs, however, backed the formation of Amotekun security outfit in the South-West and also called for the adoption and enactment of the Anti-open grazing bill into law in all the Southern States, so as to preserve farmlands and secure our households in the region.
“We all value the principle of the sanctity of life, and we call for its practice in truism. The violence that is conducted in the name of God is a desecration of his name, a crime against those who are created in His image, and debasement of Faith. The proper means of solving conflict and disagreement is by deliberate negotiation and dialogue only.
“We vehemently call for the cessation of incitement, misrepresentation, and distortion of the image of the other and of the neighbor. Drawing upon the religious traditions, and our understanding of what is best for our communities and peoples, we call for a solution that recognizes the rights of Christians to exist in Dignity.
“Religious leaders bear a special responsibility to contribute to the desired peace. We urge the political leadership to work toward solutions as they are accountable before God and the communities of believers to advance peace, and tirelessly strive to stop the wanton killings and waste of precious lives.
“We call on the government to improve on intelligence gathering and deployment of modern technology to track and monitor the operations of the insurgents.
“There is urgent need to sincerely rejig and decentralize Nigerian security arrangement for efficiency.
“We acknowledge and totally adopt the security formations in the South-West and join an alliance with our brothers’ efforts in securing their borders and communities.
“As leaders who are concerned and pained by the level of insecurity in the land, we call on the government to strengthen security surveillance within and around our land borders. The porosity of our borders has guaranteed free inter-country movement with little or no checks, worsened by the Visa-on-arrival policy. We demand a reversal of this policy.
“We call on the government to make it a point of duty to inform Nigerians what is being done to curb the insecurity in Nigeria. Nigerians on a daily basis are being fed with different kinds of security information with the government sometimes saying something on the contrary. Nigerian government should protect Nigerians no matter the tribe and religion.
“The leaders also expressed worry about the speed in which arrested terrorists are being released, rehabilitated and sent back to the society as repentant terrorists. We are deeply worried why the government should be pampering such killer terrorists who have not in any way justified their action against Nigerians. This development is not only worrisome but demoralizes the morale of gallant soldiers.
“The Anti-open grazing bill should be adopted and enacted into law in all the Southern States, so as to preserve our farmlands and secure our households.
“Rape of our women and children is an aberration and a total disregard for our rights as a people. We stand together to condemn this intrusion and call on all faith leaders to form a synergy to stamp out this slap on our collective faces as a people,” the release read.
Earlier in his speech, the convener of the event, Bishop Sunday Onuoha, urged Christian leaders to rise above sentiments and sensational headlines of the media to focus on peacebuilding.
Onuoha who is the President of Vision Africa International, explained that it is high time religious leaders put up some non-violent resistance to ensure security of the people, build bridges, strengthen the case against killings, speak out against injustice, monitor human rights and assist victims of violence.
In his words, “The fact that religion has been implicated in conflict and violence in our communities is a desecration of religion itself as the political manipulation of religion is the order of the day.
“The use of religion as a mask for violence should spur us to play our part in both preventing and resolving faith-based terrorism and radicalism. It looks as if our intelligence gathering system is porous, thereby making the Nigerian society vulnerable.
“We live in a society where you could be kidnapped, robbed or killed just for the sake of it, where churches become smeared with blood and flesh of bombed congregants, where long-standing conflicts and faith-based terrorism continue and new ones are emerging.
“Religious leaders have a great role to play in peacebuilding and stability through promotion of peaceful coexistence and reconciliation among communities. The relationship between religion, peace, conflict, and diplomacy shows that religion plays an important role in conflict resolution.”
Delivering his goodwill message at the event, Chairman CAN, Plateau state, Rev. Yakubu Pam stated that the solution to security challenges in the country does not lie in the hands of politicians, but church leaders.
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