…condemns Uromi killings, calls for state policing
By Adeyinka Adeniran
The President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Francis Wale-Oke has described President Bola Tinubu as a courageous, pragmatic and astute strategic politician who is making impact across the various sectors of the life of the country.
The cleric who condemned the recent killings in Edo State also seized the opportunity to call for the implementation of state policing, saying Nigeria is too wide to be centrally policed.
Bishop Wale-Oke spoke during a press conference on Thursday at the Cornerstone City, Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, Ibadan.
Speaking, Wale-Oke who is the Presiding Bishop, Sword of the Spirit Ministries, Ibadan said President Tinubu has within the short time in office been cleaning up all the mess he met in the areas of security, economy, politics, educational, health among other sectors, adding that he deserves the prayers of all Nigerians.
He congratulated the President on his 73th birthday, while also thanking him for the felicitations and wishes upon his emergence for a second term in office as the PFN President.
The cleric said, “I’m going to join in celebrating President Bola Tinubu in attaining the age of 73years. So far, so good. The President has been doing exceptionally well.
“He met so much of challenges on ground, so much of mess. He has to clean up security mess, economic mess, political mess, educational mess, mess in the health sector. And he’s been doing quite some good job.
“And we are thankful to God for him. He is not a messiah, but he’s a courageous man, a pragmatic man, an astute strategic politician. And we are praying for him that the Lord will continue to stand by him to help him to lead Nigeria into greater heights in the name of Jesus.
“So Mr. President, on behalf of over 86 million Pentecostals in Nigeria and across the diaspora, we wish you happy birthday and many, many happy returns. And we want to thank you, Your Excellency, for sending us a congratulatory message when we marched for the second time as the National president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria. We are praying for you in Jesus’ name.”
Speaking on the Uromi killings, the cleric who said there is no place for extrajudicial killings in the Nigeria constitution, appeals to the Edo State governor, Monday Okpebholo and his Kano state counterpart, Abba Yusuf to cooperate and work together to fish out the people who did it and bring them to book.
While appealing to the people not to put the concerned governors under any kind of pressure, he urged residents not to embark on any form of reprisal attack in any part of the country.
He further pleaded with the government, to as a matter of urgency, give similar attention being generated by the Uromi killings to such other heinous acts perpetrated in other parts of the country.
He said, “On the killings that took place in Edo state, of people that were mistaken to be kidnappers and were attacked. PFN condemns the killing in very categorical terms. It is uncalled for. There is no constitutional provision for criminal and extrajudicial killing in any part of Nigeria.
“And of course, every Nigerian should be able to move freely in any part of the nation. In that wise, the killings in the state by whosoever did it is condemnable. And PFN is joining others in Nigeria to condemn the act.
“We urge Governor Monday Okpebholo and his Kano state counterpart, Governor Abba Yusuf to cooperate together to fish out the people who did it, the slayer, and bring them to book, so as to serve as a deterrent to other people. Nigerians’ lives are sacred. And people, no matter from which part of the nation they come from, should be able to move freely anywhere in Nigeria.
“We pray the Lord will give them wisdom. I want to urge Governor Yusuf and Governor Okpebholo to cooperate to make sure that there is no reprisal attack, there is no escalation, there is no killing in any part of the nation. The evil has been done, but two evils don’t make it right.
“So we shouldn’t retaliate in kind. We appeal to Nigerians to please be patient with the governors in dealing with it.”
He said further, “But then beyond that, while we condemn this terrible act, PFN, we are amazed that other similar acts that have been going on in Nigeria, almost consistently in Benue, Plateau, Taraba, the eastern part of Nigeria. Same in Ondo and Ekiti State, where farmers will be on their farm, and herders will go and attack them and kill them.
“That has put fear in the heart of farmers, and they don’t want to go to farm anymore, which can lead to a shortage of food, food insecurity in the country. What we are saying is that the same fervor with which the government is rising to deal with this one should be applied to similar killings anywhere. Let the government make it known that killing of Nigerians anywhere, wherever they come from, wherever they are traveling to, where they are traveling from, it is not acceptable. It is punishable.
“So we do not want the outcry of condemnation to be limited to what happened in Edo State, but to be extended to every other one, so that we not only be just, we will be seen to be fair and just to every segment and every part of this nation. It should be directed at the killings going on in other places including: Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Ondo and Ekiti State, and also in the Southeast.
“Let us call a spade a spade. Not just this one. Every killing that is extrajudicial is condemnable and should be treated as such, so that it doesn’t look like some people’s lives are more sacred than the others.
“So PFN calls for fairness in all of it. We condemn this in no uncertain terms and every other one, and government should rise to the occasion. We are praying for Nigeria that there will be peace and there will be security and that we will continue to live together in peaceful coexistence.”
Justifying the call for state Policing, he said the incident that led to the Uromi killings may not be divorced from some people who were in their own way, protecting their community, killed innocent Nigerians.
He said with state police, other security apparatus such as vigilante and others can be operationally guided by the law for better coordination. He urged all Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of brotherliness and oneness in the interest of peace and progress of the country.
“Because, this thing that we are condemning now is an attempt by a people in the community in wanting to safeguard their area against those that is suspected to be killers and like that, that has caused this.
“So we just want to say that law enforcement agencies should live to their bidding and it is time for state police to be authorized and legalized in every state of the Federation. Then we have regulated communal defense, not the vigilante that can go haywire like this case.
“This is a case of vigilante going haywire and we shouldn’t encourage that. Otherwise it will be a vicious cycle, endless vicious cycle of killings. Let’s state police be nationalized, that every state should have its police. Then we will now have organized state security outfit that is regulated by law. I think we can’t do that for now.
“But to say everybody in the community should arm themselves is a call for anarchy. We should not allow that to happen. Not yet. All Nigerians need to imbibe the fear of God. And all Nigerians need to know that the life of every human being is sacred and should not be toyed with anyhow.
“And let’s see ourselves as brothers and sisters. Whether you’re from the East or from the West or from the North or from the South. Whether you are Yoruba, Isoko, Edo, Ibibio, Efik, Hausa, Fulani, whatever. We are brothers. Let’s keep watch over one another. Let’s not live in mutual suspicion and hatred. It will not do us good. Let us be our brother’s keeper as one family in Nigeria”, the cleric added.
