The Southeast chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), has called on governments and the security agencies to ensure the security of lives and property in Kaduna.
The South East CAN Chairman, Bishop Goddy Okafor, made the call in Aba on Sunday while addressing newsmen on the current killings in Southern Kaduna.
Okafor, who is the General Overseer of the Glorious Gospel Centre, Aba, Abia State, noted that failure to stop the killings in the state was creating fears in the minds of citizens about their safety in their own country.
“The killings going on in Southern Kaduna are very disturbing.
“We are one people and we believe we are one nation, but for these persistent killings going on in Southern Kaduna to keep occurring without drastic measures to stop it is very disturbing.
“These people that are being killed in Kaduna are Nigerians.
“Governments and security agencies owe it as a duty to protect them.
“The protection of lives and property is the responsibility of the government.
“Every time there are killings, some bandits are blamed.
“So, we keep asking, these bandits are they really human beings or spirits?”
According to Okafor, Nigeria is a great nation with a future if well-governed, adding that if citizens should wallow in doubt of their citizenship rights, it would not benefit the country.
He, therefore, called on governments to clear any doubt in the minds of Nigerians about the source of the killings by stopping them, while also urging Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai to do all in his powers to curb the killings in the state.
Okafor, who also called on the Police high command to ensure their men did more intelligence gathering, warned that incidences as killings, banditry, should not continue if Nigeria was to know peace and security.
On the health sector, Bishop Okafor pleaded with medical personnel planning to leave the country to jettison the idea, adding that the development, if not halted, would endanger Nigeria’s healthcare system.
He, therefore, urged the government to provide what the professionals needed to perform creditably and to enjoy their work in order to discourage their emigration.
“If we lose all our good hands when we are sick, who will take care of us?
“Government should listen to NMA and keep the best doctors we have with us here,” he said.
