Bishop of the Diocese of Lagos West Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), The Rt Rev’d James Odedeji has lamented that insecurity has brought Nigeria to its knees and called on the government to address the issue with the urgency it deserves. He also noted that the upcoming elections have taken up a large part of the government activities, hence bandits used the opportunity to open new frontiers to perpetrate their nefarious activities.

The Bishop spoke recently while delivering his address at the third session of the ninth Synod of the Diocese with the theme: “Who Is On The Lord’s Side,” held at Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral, G.R.A, Ikeja, Lagos.

Odedeji said, people are being killed nearly every week, while kidnapping has become a lucrative business and many communities have become ghost towns. He explained that farmers are no longer safe on their farmlands and their crops have become food for the cattle.

He said: “Farmers are no longer safe on their farmlands and their crops have now become food for cattle.Insecurity is not peculiar to Nigeria. All the Sahel countries are facing one form of banditry or another. Just recently ISWAP fighters overran the capital of Mali, Bamako in what looked like an attempt to overthrown the military government in that country. But this was later repelled by the country’s military with the backing of their neighbours. Nigeria’s case has been so peculiar because virtually all government institutions have been infiltrated by the representatives of these bandit apologists.”

He noted that the sponsors and financiers of the bandit groups are seemingly the politicians in government, the executive, the legislative and even the judiciary.

To further complicate the issue of insecurity, Odedeji said the bandits use the local people within where they operate as shields.

“It, therefore, becomes difficult to identify them when security operatives are searching for them, and the locals dare not report or try to identify them for fear of being attacked later. The locals know them, attend the same worship centres and markets with them, but will never give information about them,” he said.

Citing examples of the havoc these bandits have created, Odedeji said: “Within the last eight months, bandits have overrun two military formations in Borno State and inflictedinjuries to many, including two Army Generals.

The Bishop, however, praised the military for dealing with the ugly situations and repelling so many attacks, adding that from the look of things, the military is overwhelmed and under-equipped to handle these guerrilla fighters who keep attacking from different fronts, because of their sophisticated weapon and number.

Appealing to government, Odedeji said government should reconsider the idea of de-radicalisation of the “so-called” repentant fighters.

He said: “When people are killing their fellow human beings and after some time, the same fighters claim they have repented, and the next thing is for the government to organise a six-month de-radicalisation programme for them, then release or reintegrate them into society. To us, this might not achieve its purpose.”

On the theme of the Synod, “Who Is On The Lord’s Side,” taken from Exodus 32:26, the cleric urged members of the church to reexamine their relationship with God and avoid compromise.

The cleric reminded Christians that God does not tolerate divided loyalty and compromise, calling they should return to God their creator. He described compromise as rarely loud, but quiet gradual and often disguised as wisdom, convenience or survival.

According to him, “compromise becomes the clearest evidence of a divided heart. Compromise is not a single decision, it is a pattern and if left unchecked, it could slowly erodes conviction, dulls sensitivity to God and weakens spiritual authority.”

To be on the Lord’s side, according to the Bishop, is to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strengthen. Others marks include obedience to God’s word, holiness of life and separation from idolatry, among others.
Odedeji also spoke aboutthe rising cost of living, governance, health,education, among others.