Fides Media Living the Faith
. . . Insists on Local, State Security
By Ifeoma Ezenyilimba
The Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, Most Rev Paulinus Ezeokafor, has again condemned the spate of killings across the country, renewing his call for the establishment of local and state security organs to tackle the menace, writes Ifeoma Ezenyilimba.
Bishop Ezeokafor, who made the call in his homily of the concelebrated burial Mass for the late Mrs Rebecca Mgboye Amatu (mother of the Catholic Bishop of Okigwe Diocese, Most Rev Solomon Amatu), at St Simon’s Catholic Church, Ukpo, Anambra State, February 6, said there was an urgent need for local security apparatus in all the six regions and the 36 states of Nigeria in order to augment the federal security.
The Catholic prelate, who cited the recent murder of the former chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Michika LGA of Adamawa State, Mr Lawan Andimi, by suspected terrorists, regretted that the sacredness of human life had been ridiculed in the country.
He described the manner in which Mr Andimi was butchered as inhuman, noting that the sacredness of the human life had been desecrated. ‘Human beings are being slaughtered regularly by terrorists who are suspected to have targeted the Christians. Security of life and property can no longer be guaranteed in Nigeria. Worse still is that the Federal Government has not been able to address the menace of insecurity,’ the bishop stated.
He said the Federal Government ought to support the local security apparatus like Amotekun instituted by governors of the West so as to ensure that optimum security was maintained. This was even as he called for effective local security system in other regions of Nigeria.
Bishop Ezeokafor, who recalled how two priests of the Catholic Diocese of Awka were kidnapped in Ondo State and were rescued, using the Anambra State Government’s security apparatus, described Anambra as the safest state in Nigeria.
He commended Gov Obiano of Anambra State and stressed the need for such good security network to be replicated in other states of Nigeria.
The Catholic prelate called on the government at all levels to provide enabling environment for security of life and property, as well as the necessary amenities the masses needed to enjoy their lives. According to him, any government that was unable to better the lives of its citizens should surrender governance.