The five- day standing committee of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican
Communion, ended abruptly in Awka Wednesday following the sit-at-home
threat by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB...
The meeting, attended by 170 Bishops from all the Dioceses in the
country, was the highest decision-making gathering of the church and
would have ended on Friday.
According to the IPOB threat, all markets, banks and other institutions
would be shut and movement restricted in the entire South East
geo-political zone.
There were visible signs Wedenesday in the state of security beef up in various parts of the state.
Primate of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Reverend Nicolas Okoh, who
expressed concern over the IPOB order, had earlier pleaded with the
group to allow the Bishops leave the state, arguing that the order would
adversely affect their departure if carried out.
He said: “IPOB threatened to shut down markets and other institutions
and restrict movement in the entire South East. We are not delving into
the reasons for their agitation, but we are asking them to wait until we
leave Awka on Friday.
“ If they go ahead to carry out that order, we may be trapped in Anambra
as the Niger Bridge is the only exit route from Anambra State for most
of the Bishops. So, people should help us beg them to allow us to go.”
Though Wednesday was the official opening day for the meeting, the
Bishops decided to leave the state immediately so as not to be caught in
the web of IPOB planned Friday programme.
One of the Bishops from the Northern part of the country said “We are
human and so we had to put our heads together and that is why we decided
to cut short the conference.
“That is the most ideal thing to do in the circumstance. I will leave
this evening and most others will do same. Those who cannot make it
today (yesterday) will do so early tomorrow. There is no need waiting;
it doesn’t make sense.”
Following the decision, the Bishops hurriedly issued a statement
appealing to the Niger Delta militants to stop the bombing of oil
facilities in their region in the interest of the country.
They also appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to convene a roundtable
meeting between government and the agitators in order to address their
grievances.
They, however, reminded the militants that shutting down the economy of the country would not do anybody any good.
Delivering his address at the meeting earlier, the Primate appealed to
the federal government to disarm the Fulani herdsmen who, he noted, had
murdered the peace of the country.
His address read in part: “The Standing Committee wishes to make a
passionate appeal to the militants to spare our economy and stop the
bombing of oil facilities.
“Shutting down the economy is like pulling down the roofs with all of us
inside; nobody will escape the negative impact. We equally call on
those who can reach them to join in this appeal for the greater good of
all.
“The presence of herdsmen in our countryside is not new, they have
always been around. What is, however, new are the unprovoked attacks on
their host communities and sometimes saying that cow is missing.
“They lay ambush and waylay people going to their farms, rape women and
destroy farmlands; and their victims are at their mercy because they are
armed.
“We call on the federal government to immediately disarm these people to return Nigeria to a state of peace.”
“Our roads are in bad condition all across the country. Since our major
means of transport is road, we call on the federal government to give
the required attention to the roads to reduce the inconveniences,
accidents and deaths.
“Airlines operating in the country are going through difficult times, some have grounded operations. No doubt, we need them.
“We therefore call on the federal government to expedite action on
floating the national carrier or rejuvenate the private ones to enable
them perform better.
“Further in this area is the persistent scarcity of aviation fuel which
has troubled the country, disrupted many programmes, including those of
government and private.
“We call on government to solve the problem of aviation fuel permanently
so that people can move about their businesses with less difficulty
within the country.”
Okoh commended Governor Willie Obiano for promoting religious harmony in
the state, as well as prompt payment of workers’ salaries at a time
many states were unable to do so.
He also congratulated the governor and the people of the state on the
25th anniversary of the creation of the state, assuring that the bond
between the church and the state government would continue to grow
stronger.
“I thank the governor because he always identifies with us. The
religious climate in Anambra is now tension -free. He does not
discriminate in his appointments and we are grateful to him.
“We heard that he is one of the few governors that pay salaries and we
say, please don’t relent because the church depends on the generosity of
the members for the execution of its projects”, the Primate further
said.
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