The Anglican Church Deploy Armed Security, Critics Respond

The Pro-active Bishop of the Anglican Church Nnewi Dioceses, His Lordship, Rt. Rev. Ndubuisi Obi has shown tremendous pro-active measures by changing the security system of all Anglican churches and facilities in the diocese. This is in line with his vision and mission for the diocese and it is a worthy achievement.

Prior to his enthronement, the security personnel of the churches in the diocese were given to members of the church who were unemployed and had no means of livelihood, or to persons who showed the most commitment to church activities, sometimes the church advertises for these roles. These persons usually have little or no knowledge of the technicalities involved in securing lives and properties thereby putting their lives at risk. Most times they were middle-aged, old, or worse.

In the wake of the insurgencies in the country with the church being one of the major targets of bandits, one can say that the previous models cannot fit into contemporary society. It will be pertinent to note that southeast is not living in the isolation of the challenges posed by the Boko haram; there have been cases of bombs found around church premises with the church being the target.

Speaking to www.anaedoonline.com, the lord Bishop of the Anglican diocese Nnewi said that considering all that has been ongoing in the country, it will be myopic of the church to operate in isolation and assume that the church is exonerated.

The Anglican Church has in its possession treasured items and therefore requires security to guard the house of God and the people of God when they come to worship.

The Bishop took proactive steps and made sure that there are no security leaks in the diocese by recruiting young able-bodied men, liaised with the Nigerian police force, the military, and trained them on recent security intelligence and armed them up. These security men are posted to serve across all Anglican facilities, churches, schools, etc.

As the saying goes, you can never please everyone, there has been murmuring by some critical minds who frown at the thought of armed men in the house of God, opining that, trigger happy operatives might at the long run constitute a nuisance, nevertheless, the new development has received resounding applaus.