The Kaduna State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has blamed the government for allegedly failing in its primary responsibility of securing the lives of Nigerians.
Chairman of the chapter, Joseph Hayab slammed the government and security agencies following the killing of Jeremiah Omolara, a resident pastor of the Living Faith Church in Romi New Extension, Kaduna, and abduction of his wife.
According to reports, the incident occurred on Sunday as the couple was traveling to Abuja.
The assailants were said to have waylaid the couple along the Kaduna-Abuja Road, shot the pastor dead and took his wife into the surrounding bushes.
However, the couple’s son escaped the fatal incident.
Hayab said the spate of kidnapping, especially of clerics, in Kaduna was becoming worrisome.
The Kaduna CAN chairman lamented that a security guard was killed last Thursday as some gunmen whisked away a clergyman from his residence in Kasuwan Magani community in Kajuru Local Government Area.
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He disclosed that the kidnappers of a Baptist pastor kidnapped in the same local government were demanding N4 million as ransom.
“Now the Living Faith Church pastor was abducted along Kaduna-Abuja and was killed while his wife was abducted,” Hayab said.
“That tells you that the new trend is to attack us in our homes or in our churches or on the roads. We are just not safe anywhere and we are asking the same question we have been asking; where are our security agencies?
“Are we being told tactically that we should defend ourselves? If we start defending ourselves, it means that we no longer have security or we no longer have government. Or is this government only for those they love and they don’t care about others?
“We feel strongly that the federal government and the Inspector General of Police should do something about Kaduna, since we have a governor who does not listen and feels he knows everything.”
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“Even after the killing of the security guards to the parish priest he heard that he called the priest; is it calling calling the victims that we want or addressing the security challenges. If you speak to me as Rev. Hayab when criminals attack me, what help have you done to me? You are not helping to stop the attack. So we are really concerned and concerned that people, especially clergies in Kaduna are no longer safe.
“We don’t want a situation where we will be force to think of how to protect ourselves, we believe that government is there to protect us.”