Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Methodist Archbishop of Umuahia Diocese, Archbishop Raphael Opoko, has said that Nigeria lacks the capacity to tackle the rising wave of insecurity, especially banditry and terrorism ravaging different states in the country.
Archbishop Opoko, who spoke while featuring as a resource person at the Ikengaonline monthly town hall meeting, urged the Federal Government to seek external help and deal decisively with the monster.
He said: “Nigeria has not got the capacity to be able to deal with this situation and protect the lives of the citizens for which all these people were elected, both the President and the National Assembly members.
“They could also ask for help. After all, when they do not have money, they go outside to borrow money to deal with issues concerning the nation. In the same way, if they don’t have the capacity to deal with insecurity, they should allow external help to come in.”
Archbishop Opoko expressed bitterness that it took the tweet of U.S. President, Donald Trump, for the issue of Christian genocide, which he said had been swept under the carpet in Nigeria, to become a global discourse.
Disagreeing with those who deny Christian genocide in Nigeria, Archbishop Opoko appealed to the Nigerian authorities to allow the U.S. to help flush out the perpetrators of insecurity in the country.
“Should Trump have to threaten Nigeria before they start discussing Christian genocide in Nigeria? They don’t even want to name it.
“From available reports, Nigeria is at stage 9, which is extermination stage. People are being exterminated, people are being killed, but for the authorities, it’s denial, denial, denial.”
Archbishop Opoko, who decried the hypocrisy of the Nigerian authorities over the issue of Christian genocide, demanded an investigation of a former Northern governor who confessed that he had to pay foreign bandits to stop killings in Kaduna State.
He also demanded the immediate and full disclosure of the identities of terror sponsors in Nigeria.
“The only way we can stop this is by naming the sponsors. We need to admit that it is happening; then we can be serious in confronting the situation.
“There are allegations that some people had to bring in people from outside the country because of politics. Can that be investigated? Can’t we call those people who are involved to answer for those things?
“Somebody said he was paying bandits, and do we mean to say that the bandits are doing their business? What is their business? Is kidnapping people a good business?
“We see herders herding cows and carrying AK-47s and AK-49s.”
Archbishop Opoko expressed surprise that the Federal Government, which spent so much to render the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB), Nnamdi Kanu, from Kenya, was complaining of lack of resources to tackle insecurity in the country.
“Government is saying there are no resources, yet it had the resources to go to Kenya and abduct Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and bring him back to this nation.”
Accusing the Government of selective justice, Archbishop Opoko demanded seriousness from the Nigerian authorities in the fight against insecurity.
