Nigeria’s Catholic Bishops are appealing to the country’s government to take immediate action to address the issue of security in the country.
In a communique following their weeklong First 2024 Plenary Assembly, members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) said that insecurity cases are at a scale never witnessed before.
“Insecurity has attained yet a higher scale than we had ever seen before in the land. Insurgents, armed herdsmen, bandits, and the so-called unknown gunmen have continued to unleash terror in different parts of the country,” the Bishops said in their communique shared with sources.
They also lamented the increased reported cases of abduction for ransom in the country, saying it is now happening in homes and “areas where in the past it was thought impossible.”
As a result, many citizens of Nigeria have fled their respective homes and abandoned their sources of livelihoods including business, they further lamented, adding that the situation has resulted in an increased number of Internally Displaced People in the country.
The Nigerian Bishops recalled their previous pleas on the need to address security concerns and make “yet another passionate appeal to Government to act immediately to stem the tide.”
Emphasizing the value of human life to any nation, they said, “The legitimacy of government depends on its capacity to protect life and property.”
The Catholic Bishops weighed in on the ongoing discussions about the possibility of Nigeria’s State Governments establishing a nationwide State Police, one of the agenda of the country’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s meeting with the country’s 36 State Governors on February 15.
For the CBCN members, stakeholders in Nigeria need to to “carefully” study the “ongoing discussion about the creation of State Police”, adding that security stakeholders in the West African nation also need to “assess the impact of all other already existing security outfits in this regard”.
In their communique following their Plenary Assembly held at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) Resource Centre, Durumi Abuja, the Catholic leaders urged the President Tinubu-led government to address the issue of the “worsening economy” in the country.
According to the Bishops, the policies around country’s economy are not “properly thought through and as such the outcomes seem to fall short of expectations.”
“For instance, while the fuel subsidy removal was meant to help improve government’s revenue which has been the case across the three levels of government, the impact on Nigerians has been debilitating,” the CBCN members lamented.
Additionally, they said the government’s decision to “float the Naira” has resulted in “unintended negative and harsh consequences.”
Amid tough economic times, there is “increasing disaffection and restiveness” among Nigerians, the Bishops noted, and urged the government “to urgently address” the phenomenon that they say is “spreading across the population, to avoid a descent into chaos and anarchy.”
