Religious clerics under the aegis of the Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria on Friday appealed to President Bola Tinubu to urgently take steps to tackle insecurity that has resulted in the killing of innocent Nigerians across the country.
Chivir Chanson, Secretary General, Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), leading a team of Charismatic Bishops to meet with Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to the President on Public Policy Communication, said the entire North Central Region is currently under siege and in a state of emergency.
The Charismatic Bishops applauded the Tinubu administration’s economic policies, especially the withdrawal of subsidy on petroleum products. However, they expressed deep worries about the current security situation in the country, particularly the killing of missionaries and pastors, and the burning of churches.
“They are killed. Their wives are sometimes maimed. I had a situation some time back in Benue State where we saw in photographs where certain persons, pregnant women, were slit open,” Chanson said.
“The babies, the foetus in the womb was brought out, slit, and then kept on top of her for us to see. We are really bothered. That horrifies our pastors in the villages.”
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He continued: “Some of them are running away. Some of them are giving up the calling. Our churches are getting burnt. We are deeply bothered and, quite frankly, we applaud the Forest Guards enactment. But now, we have a situation where some of our communities have been taken over by terrorists.”
The Bishops noted that communities have been overtaken by “strangers, by marauders who come in with superior firepower that our own police divisions cannot withstand.”
“They don’t even have equal firepower to reply. And it is so bad that most times, we notice that our police divisions will wait until after the operation, until after the killing, before they come to the scene. So we are bothered,” Chanson explained.
“We are bothered about Benue State and we’re bothered about Plateau State. We are bothered because we want to believe that the governors are trying their best, but they are not cut out for war. This is a situation of war.”
The Bishops, while noting that politicians may not like their current positions, insisted that speaking out was necessary.
“We know that the politicians will not like this, but the fact of the matter is that, while they are basking in their own, in the success of their own ambitions, we are losing more lives,” they said.
The group recalled that on a weekly basis, in Benue and Plateau States, terrorists kill “our own missionary pastors. Our members are the most victims.”
The Bishops called on the President to rescue the states, especially as the “governors are not cut out for war.”
“We are not calling for a state of emergency in Benue or Plateau States; we are simply saying that we are already in one. We are already in a state of emergency,” Chanson emphasised.
“We live in it every day of our lives. We’re in a state of emergency and we’re wondering, when will our government come to terms with this fact? How many more persons have to die? How many more women have to be slit open before our own beloved government, before our beloved President will do the needful?”
They warned that the situation is breeding a society where people are beginning to plan for reprisals.
“The children are growing up to remember what they saw, what was done to their parents. And I sometimes imagine that if I were the one, would I truly agree to even be a pastor today? Because if my parents were slaughtered in that manner, or my siblings were killed in that manner, definitely I may have gone bananas by now.”
Despite their concerns about security, the Bishops expressed support for President Tinubu, highlighting some of his administration’s remarkable policies, including the Federal Government Students Loan Funds.
“We believe in this government. We believe in the Renewed Hope Agenda, and we believe he is taking the right steps. And we believe that if President Bola Tinubu is being supported, he will achieve much more.”
In response, Daniel Bwala appreciated the Bishops for acknowledging the achievements of the current administration.
“Let me appreciate the conference very profoundly for itemising the things that you consider as the progress that we’ve made as a government. It is very impressive that you have paid attention to some of the things that this administration is doing.”
He assured the Bishops that the President applies the same principle in dealing with insecurity, “which is why I want to allay your fears that on this matter of insecurity in the country, we will nip it. We will nip it in the bud.”
Bwala disclosed that the President gives no room or tolerance to any form of evil, adding that “the perspective with which Mr. President looks at insecurity is not coloured by the prism of religion. Every crime is a crime irrespective of who commits it.”
He stated that all forms of crime are treated as crime by Mr. President, who “has engaged and has been engaging with state governors because the security of life and welfare of the people as referenced in the constitution is the responsibility of government—the federal government, the state government, and the local government.”
