The Archbishop, Enugu Ecclesiastical Province, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma wants the Inspector General of Police, Mr Mohammed Adamu to increase the number of police officers in Enugu State.
Chukwuma made the call on Friday while briefing newsmen after an emergency State Security Council Meeting in Enugu.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting followed the killing of a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Paul Offu on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019 along Ihe-Agbudu Road in Awgu Local Government Area of the state.
The bishop said that the inadequacy of the number of police officers in the state, particularly, in the rural areas made the call imperative.
He said that religious leaders in the state were sad about the development and warned that such would not be tolerated again.
“No priest should be killed in the state again as there will be no sparing of anybody that does that,” he said.
Chukwuma appealed to the police commissioner to enlighten the divisional police officers in the state, adding that underperforming ones must be removed.
He said that in spite of recent breakdown of security in the state, residents of the area needed not fear as Enugu was still very safe.
A representative of the Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Rev. Fr. Nnamdi Nwankwo, said that it was sad that the denomination had been at the receiving end of the security breakdown.
Nwankwo said that two Catholic Church priests had been killed and one battered with gun shots in the last eight months.
“We are sad and here to dialogue with the state government to find out how to handle the situation.
“So many people have been abducted in the last five years. We commend the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria for assisting the government in security but we want them to do more.
“We do not want to live in fear. They are doing their business; we are doing our business and no one should suffer,” Nwankwo said.
NAN further reports that the deceased, who hails from Okpatu in Udi Local Government Area of the state, until his death, was the parish priest of St. James the Greater Parish, Ugbawka in Nkanu West Local Government.
The security meeting was attended by heads of all security agencies in the state.
