The Lead Bishop of the Worldwide Anglican Church (WAC) in Nigeria, Bishop Seun Adeoye, has strongly condemned the recent Christmas day killings in Plateau State, urging Plateau indigenes to defend themselves.
In his New Year Message released in Osogbo on Sunday, titled “Never fold your arms again,” Bishop Adeoye expressed deep concern over the tragic events, where people were slaughtered in their father’s land, and security agencies seemed absent.
Bishop Adeoye, who is also the General Overseer of Sufficient Grace and Truth Ministries and the Spokesman of the World Bishops’ Council (WBC) in Africa, called on Plateau indigenes to defend themselves against what he referred to as agents of Satan.
He articulated, “Never fold your arms and allow agents of Satan destroy you, your wives and your children. Please rise up and fight back against these murderers.
“Plateau state killings, just like Benue and Kaduna states, didn’t just begin; they have been occurring over the years. So, why let it continue?
“If these dastardly acts cannot be nipped in the bud by security agencies and if the government has failed in its duty to protect the victims, what then do you expect the people to do?
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“The options left to them is either to relocate from their fathers land and take refuge in other places or rise to the challenge by defending their wives and children.
“We have a right to live, and I have never read any portion of the Nigerian constitution where self-defence is an offence or read it anywhere in the Bible where self-defence is forbidden.
“The duty of government is to protect lives and property, but Bola Tinubu’s presidency has failed in all of these. Nigeria didn’t need an armchair president trolling markets, hosting friends and wining and dining when a calamity of such magnitude befell a nation.
“What’s the Nigerian police policing? What’s the territory the Nigerian Army says they are protecting? Who has been held to account for these heinous acts? This situation is sad and shameful,” the clergyman lamented.