Kidnapping: CCIC warns pastors against night travels
A
religious organisation, Christ Chapel International Churches has urged
pastors, bishops, archbishops and other religious leaders to reduce
their movement and travelling at night.
The church gave the advice during a press conference which was part of activities to mark its 32 years anniversary in Lagos.
Chairman of CCIC Advisory Council, Pastor Dam Ibekwe, said it was lamentable that kidnappers no longer respect men of God.
He explained that the incessant rate of
kidnapping, which has extended to clerics, showed the weakness of
government in the country.
While condemning the kidnap of the
recently-released Dean, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion),
Archbishop, Ignatius Kattey, he urged government at all levels not to
relent in their efforts to provide empowerment for the unemployed
youths.
Kattey, who is the Dean of the Anglican
Communion in Nigeria, was kidnapped in Rivers State on September 6 and
freed last Saturday.
Ibekwe said, “The kidnapping of clerics
including the Archbishop is a sign of bad leadership. I came to Lagos in
1954 and then we are free to go anywhere anytime. In fact, people
prefer to go to some places at night because everywhere was calm but
that is all over now. There is fear all over the places and that is why
we must be careful of our movement as men of God at night.
“With the situation of the country,
pastors, bishops, archbishops and other religious leaders are advised to
reduce their movement at night and continue to pray that everything
goes back to normal. With our prayers, we will enjoy what we used to
enjoy and there is need for moral re-awakening from God.”
On the anniversary, he explained that the church had concluded plans to help the youths by investing in the educational sector.
Meanwhile, a member of the National
Assembly, Senator Magnus Abe, has said that poverty and joblessness
should not be an excuse for anybody to indulge in kidnapping and armed
robbery.
Abe, who represents Rivers South East in
the Senate, explained that Nigeria could no longer toy with the issue
of security. He added that such an alibi was an insult to millions of
poor Nigerians that had refused to kill or harm anybody to better their
lot.
Speaking when he visited Kattey at his
residence in Eleme on Monday, the lawmaker charged Nigerians to see the
travails of the cleric in the hands of kidnappers as a wake-up call to
matters concerning security.
It will be recalled that Kattey, who was
kidnapped on September 6, 2013, regained his freedom after being taken
hostage by hoodlums for nine days.
“I just want to use this opportunity to
thank Christian faithful across the country. Every Christian in this
country showed concern. So, I thank all of us for what God has done and
to say that this actually is a wake-up call for us as a country.
“We can no longer afford to play with
the issue of security. It is by the grace of God that we are today
gathered here, smiling and clapping; the story could have been the other
way.
“Joblessness and financial challenges
are no excuses for kidnapping and armed robbery. It is an insult to all
the millions of people who are poor, who are struggling, and who have
refused to kill anybody or to harm another person to better their lot,”
Abe stressed.
http://www.punchng.com/news/kidnapping-ccic-warns-pastors-against-night-travels/
Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE
Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner
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