Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Kidnapping: CCIC warns pastors against night travels

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

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

Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner

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