Insecurity: Nigerian Church calls members to defend against attacks
The Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) has called its members in Nigeria to exercise their rights to self-defense in the face of armed attacks by terrorists.
Attacks on rural communities in the country’s north have claimed “thousands” of ECWA members in recent years, said President of ECWA – Rev. Dr. Stephen Panya on Friday.
“ECWA has borne a brunt of this insecurity,” said Panya to journalists at the 69th General Church Council meeting of ECWA held in Jos, the capital of Plateau State.
“We have lost a lot of members,” he said, “Many more were kidnapped. It should be in thousands. We have also lost pastors who have been killed. This is not to talk of the many properties we have lost as a Church and as individuals,” said the Panya.
“Whole ECWA communities have been destroyed in the Irigwe Chiefdom [a district in Plateau State], Adara Chiefdom [district in Kaduna State] and in Southern Kaduna for instance very recently in Kagoro when over 32 people were killed and several houses destroyed,” added Panya.
Lightbearernews reports that the Church leader said the attacks were aimed at land-grab.
He condemned President Muhammadu Buhari’s “conspicuous silence” over the killings as well as his inability to bring the perpetrators to justice.
