Insecurity: Churches should protect, defend themselves against ravaging bandits — Anglican Bishop

The Archbishop of Ondo Ecclesiastical Province and the Anglican Bishop of Akure Diocese, Rev’d Simeon Borokini, said safety has become a prime concern for worshippers in the state and advocated that churches should protect and defend themselves against ravaging bandits.

Borokini, who stated this during the synod at St. Andrews Anglican Church, Oyemekun, Akure, Ondo State capital, expressed dismay at the high level of insecurity in the country and said members of his Church should be ready to defend themselves against attackers.

He said: “Well I won’t oppose the call for Churches to defend themselves because the government seems to be insensitive to the security situation in the country, so anybody willing to get something to protect himself should get the license if it is gun. If it is to protect, I will support it, since the government seems to be negligent as far as security is concerned.

“The promise by the government to protect citizens from terrorists and criminals has not been kept; instead, the country has become more unstable than it has been in decades.

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“The recent surge of insecurity has been linked to the poverty across the country. The nation is abundantly blessed but criminally Youth unemployment is alarming and the country is in the middle of one of the economic downturns.

“Nigeria, God’s own country, the giant of Africa, a nation flowing with milk and honey is now a place where everyone is avoiding partnering with or to even come and invest in.

“Even, the citizens are running from the country to go and look for greener pasture and find solace somewhere else as a result of the security challenges.

“The nation is faced with an unprecedented wave of different but overlapping insurgencies and almost every corner has been hit by violence and crime.

“This scale of insecurity threatens the very fabric of Nigerian society. With every attack that is carried out on a daily basis, human lives are either lost or permanently damaged. As a result of this, faith in democracy and the country is gradually eroding.”

The cleric noted that “criminals and terrorists are tagged, bandits and unknown gunmen. Even though it was reported that the militant group – Boko haram has been technically defeated; but deadly herdsmen are always on a killing spree anytime there is any misunderstanding between them and the farmers.

One of the worrisome threats for families in Nigeria is the frequent indiscriminate kidnapping of school children in their classrooms and students in the boarding houses, adults, travellers and farmers on their farms.

“Kidnapping has become a lucrative industry to the extent that individuals kidnap himself or herself for ransom. May God have mercy upon us in Nigeria.”

The Bishop, however, threw his weight behind the formation of state police to curb the insecurity in the country,  saying it remains a better option than community policing.

“Likewise I will support the creation of state police and anything that states can design to protect its citizens like in Ondo state, the Amotekun which is in place and we can see what the security outfit, the Amotekun are doing.

“They are performing well and if there are other states without these security measures they should take it because the number of policemen that we have cannot protect all the citizens we have in the country, so it is better we do something at local level.

Speaking on the directives from the state government that CCTV should be installed in churches and public places, the Bishop said the Church has directed that the devices should be installed before the August 1, deadline.

Borokini said: “I have directed all our church leaders to comply, but they should know that not all the parish will comply, because we have some small congregation churches and it will be difficult for them to comply especially to get those gadgets before August 1 deadline.

“But talking about big churches, they have the resources they can easily cope and get those items but might be difficult for those small churches in villages and towns.”