The Nigerian Cleric Council of Bishops And Imams (NCCBI) on Thursday organised a prayer session for former head of Intelligent Response Team (IRT), Abba Kyari, in Abuja and called on President Bola Tinubu to look at the security situation in the country and release him.
The group who held the prayer at the Unity Fountain in Abuja said the prayer was in collaboration with Leadwell Africa Global Initiative to offer prayer for peace in the country and urged Nigerians to support the current leadership in Nigeria.
Bishop Lawrence Ngene, President of NCCBI, who addressed the media said they were “driven by the spirits of oneness and as concerned citizens of our dear nation, Nigeria to share the pain we suffered from the country that is being covered with the cloud of darkness and stained with the blood of some of her innocent citizens, whose souls are either restless in the sky or in the hands of kidnappers, bandits, armed robbers and terrorists, who have turned our day to perilous and fearful night, where evils prevail.”
He noted that as concerned citizens of Nigeria, they feel the pain “over the ugly situations in the country; feel the pain and the loss of the departed souls of innocent Nigerians whose lives were cut short by the enemies of the country, called bandits, armed robbers, kidnappers and terrorists.
“We feel the pain of the rising cases of insecurities across the country” and “the rising cost of living in Nigeria and hardship in the land.
“We feel the pain of Nigerians, who felt disappointed at their fellow Nigerians, who took advantage of the weakness of Naira against dollars to inflate and manipulate prices of goods and services in the country.
“We feel the pain of the rising cases of corruption, ranging from embezzlement of public funds, nepotism, favouritism, tribalisms, amongst others that have taken the order of the day both at the public and private institutions.”
The group said it’s sad “common Nigerians are losing their lives while some have lost hopes and confidence in the judiciary system” noting that some Nigerians have also “lost trust in their representatives at both the lower and upper chambers of the national assembly.”
They decried the “loss of hope and trust in the electoral system in Nigeria” pointing out that “they are Nigerians in the Nigerian Correctional centre that have not been tried at competent jurisdiction for their alleged crimes.”
The clerics further said they “feel the pain of Nigerians who are calling for immediate release of Abba Kyari and his team, whom they believed will liberate them from the fear of insecurities in the country.
“It is upon these pains in the hearts of Nigerians that have prompted our gathering here today as concerned citizens of Nigeria to pray to God Almighty to intervene in the ugly situations which we have found ourselves as a nation.
“It is upon these pains that we are here to pray to President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, members of the national assembly, the judiciary and all the security agencies to wake up to their mandates and rescue Nigerians from the pains in their hearts.
“Most urgently, is the pain arising from the insecurities in the country, which is very alarming, and this is where as concerned citizens of our dear nation, we pray to God Almighty and to the leadership of Nigeria to bring Abba Kyari and his team back to Nigerian Security Architecture.
“We know how the doggedness of Abba Kyari and his team brought down high-profile criminals, terrorists, assassins and kidnappers when they were with us in the society.
“We share the feeling of the majority of Nigerians that the presence of Abba Kyari and his team in our society can largely take away the pain of fear of unknown gunmen from our hearts.
“We pray for the presence of tested and trusted hands of Abba Kyari and His Team in Nigeria Security Architecture.
“We pray for good governance and good leadership in Nigeria,” the clerics prayed.
