Killing Of Clerics: CAN Berates FG, Says Focus Now On 2019 Than Security

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has expressed disappointment at the seeming status quo in which the Federal Government is giving more attention to elections in the country than the security of lives and property.

In a statement by Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, media aide to CAN President, Rev Dr Samson Ayokunle, CAN was reacting to the killings of Roman Catholic priest, Rev. Fr Michael Akawu, and a Baptist Church pastor, Rev. Hosea Akuchi.

Rev. Fr. Akawu of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Parish, Dobi, Gwagwalada had reportedly been shot on Saturday in Abuja by unknown gunmen while Pastor Akuchi of the Nasara Baptist Church in Guguwa near Rigasa in Kaduna, was reportedly shot by some suspected Fulani herdsmen at about 1.00am on Sunday.

After committing the dastardly act, the suspected herdsmen were said to have equally abducted Pastor Akuchi’s wife, Talatu, and are demanding the sum of N5 million.

Reacting to the incidents, CAN noted in the statement that, “Akawu, who was ordained priest on February 4, 2017 by the Archbishop of Abuja, the Most Revd. John Cardinal Onayeikan was the first FCT indigenous Catholic priest to be ordained.

“We once again call on our security agencies to be more pro-active and invest more on intelligence gathering with a view to preventing many of these crimes that are being committed before their watches undetected.

“CAN also notes with pains and disappointment the state of insecurity in the country, nowhere is safe and secured, as terrorists, rampaging Fulani herdsmen, killer bandits, armed robbers, kidnappers and other hoodlums are operating unchecked while our security agencies are seemed busy with elections, forgetting that leaders are elected to rule over the living.

“Nigeria’s security situation is reprehensible, unacceptable and condemnable. We once again call on President Muhammadu Buhari to rejig the security system of the country. Let there be a visible improvement in our security system, as the governed are not satisfied with their performances in ensuring security of lives and property.

“We once again called on the Police to arrest all assailants that are responsible for these dastardly acts. We don’t need foreign countries to tell us that it is the failure to arrest these hoodlums amidst us that has emboldened them to perpetrate their atrocities. Enough of these senseless killings in the country,” said CAN.