Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, has called on the Federal Government to step up its fight against insecurity across the country.
He said insecurity was getting worse in Nigeria.
Ugorji stated this in Abuja yesterday, opening the 2025 first plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria.
Over the weekend, kidnappers of a Catholic Priest, Rev Fr Philip Ekeli, and a seminarian, Peter Andrew, who were abducted last Monday at St Peter’s Catholic Church, Ivukwa, in Etsako East local government area of Edo State, demanded a whopping N200m.
Recently, a trending video of the youth leader of Afenifere, Prince Eniola Ojajuni, who was kidnapped around the Kogi state axis, went viral. The kidnappers initially demanded N100m. He was, however, later released after an undisclosed ransom was collected.
These are just two out of the numerous kidnappings in different parts of the country, where families and friends of the abductees go through the trauma of raising such funds. In some cases, the criminals go ahead to kill their victims after collecting huge ransoms.
According to the Catholic cleric, insecurity persists and is even getting worse across the nation as the armies of Boko Haram, bandits, unknown gunmen, and Fulani herders continue to grow in number as well as in acts of wickedness and barbarism.
He said, “Kidnapping for ransom and the mindless killing of innocent people are on the rise, with the targeting of priests and religious across the country.
“While we speak, Fr Philip Ekweli of Auchi Diocese and a major seminarian abducted with him on March 3, 2025, are still being held in captivity by their abductors while Fr Sylvester Okechukwu of Kafanchan Diocese, who was kidnapped and brutally butchered on March 4, 2025, is yet to be buried.”
Ugorji, who is also the Bishop of Owerri Archdiocese, said more communities were being terrorized, traumatized, displaced, impoverished, and their ancestral home taken over by their conquerors; gruesome tales are told of the kidnapping and cruel slaughtering of Nigerians for harvesting of human parts for sale or rituals undertaken by criminal gangs.”
He also warned about the increasing rate of Youth Unemployment, which he said has 53 percent of unemployed youths. Nigeria is second to South Africa, which records 61 percent youth unemployment.
He said, “Unfortunately, most unemployed youths seem unemployable because they lack the skills in demand in the job market.
“The layoff of workers even worsens the situation due to the folding up of many companies and multinational corporations on account of the present harsh and hostile economic atmosphere in the country.”
As a way forward, he called on the church to champion the course of the oppressed.
He said, “As the voice of the voiceless, we should, with uncompromising energy, continue denouncing corruption, injustice, oppression, and exploitation of the poor and weak, which has held our nation down.
“Since our political and economic woes stem mainly from corrupt and self-seeking political elites who manipulate the electoral process to grab power and divert our national resources for their benefit.
“Furthermore, we should continue to appeal to corrupt leaders, who loot public coffers, to be mindful of the dangers of provoking the populace to effect change through violent uprising. They should learn from the History of revolution.”
All the Catholic Bishops in Nigeria attended, including the Pope’s representative in Nigeria, Apostolic Nuncio, Most Rev Michael Francis Crotty.
*Intensify enforcement of capital punishment, stop granting amnesty to offenders, CSOs, clerics urge
Meanwhile, kidnapping for ransom has escalated into a full-blown crisis in Nigeria, leaving millions of citizens trapped in fear and uncertainty.
From major highways to remote villages, no place seems safe from the grip of criminals who continue to terrorise communities with impunity.
Some experts point to poverty, unemployment, corruption within the security sector, and the proliferation of small arms as key contributors to the crisis.
Others argue that the weak judicial system, where arrested kidnappers often go unpunished or are released due to lack of prosecution, has emboldened criminals.
While the government has launched several initiatives to tackle insecurity, including military operations and community policing efforts, many Nigerians remain sceptical about their effectiveness.
However, Nigerians are questioning the essence of having the National Identification Number (NIN) introduced by the Federal Government under the administration of former President Muhammad Buhari
Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (InterSociety), Emeka Umeagbalasi, said the issue of military onslaught to quell kidnapping and other criminalities is a ruse because of the grievous question of sabotage and insincerity in tackling crime across the country.
He said, “There are many question marks regarding all the military onslaughts. How are you sure those victims killed or neutralized are accurate and that the military is going after the kidnappers and other targets from my research and investigations?
“A lot of pieces of evidence abound. The military is not hitting the targets, and there are many questions regarding the so-called onslaught by the army in the country.
“Bad governance is one of the causes of these things because whenever you are talking about insecurity, you must talk about the sociological consequences of insecurity. All these violent crimes, what brought them? The state and federal governments are breeders of insecurity because they don’t provide employment opportunities for the army of unemployed youths.
“The country and people are not governors the way it should be; the law enforcement agencies are not carried along the way they should be,” he noted.
Also, a Pastor of the Redeem Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Abuja, Peter Emuekpere, charged the National Assembly to come up with legislation that will make kidnapping and terrorism a capital offence so that those caught will be severely punished like it is done in advanced countries.
Emuekpere said it is unfortunate that when perpetrators are caught, they are left on the hook and called repentant criminals; they are also integrated into society and quickly return to their crimes.
The cleric said kidnapping is carried out by criminal gangs who believe the best way to get rich quickly is through crimes.
He urged the government and security agencies to redouble efforts to stem the tide.
“Security agencies must not only come out clean on this matter, but they need to redouble efforts because as it is today, the menace is catching on every family, whether rich or poor; it is catching on Muslims, Christians, and pagans, the earlier it is stopped, the better for Nigeria,” he said.
Similarly, a Muslim cleric, Alhaji Asimu Musa, told ThisNigeria that the government should come up with a law not only prohibiting kidnapping but also making the act punishable by death.
“There must be a law that anyone that is caught should also face the death penalty; this is the only way this crime would be defeated,” he said.
“This is a duty for us all; we must protect the future of Nigeria,” he said
In the same vein, a pastor and a lawyer, Paul Omoluabi, noted that the persistent scourge of kidnapping and insecurity has made Nigeria unsafe, thereby creating an atmosphere of fear for investors and tourists.
Omoluabi urged the government and security agencies to step up their game.
He said, “It is disheartening to acknowledge that, as a nation, we have yet to effectively curb the alarming rise in kidnapping and heinous crimes perpetrated against innocent Nigerians. A crucial factor contributing to this vulnerability is the lack of a comprehensive and centralized database of Nigerian citizens. How many are we in Nigeria?
“The absence of a unified database allows criminal elements to exploit this significant loophole, perpetuating their nefarious activities with relative ease. A fundamental prerequisite for a functional nation is a centralized registry of its citizens.
“The implementation of fingerprint identification mechanisms, for instance, provides a unique and reliable means of identification, thereby curbing criminal tendencies. If we can conduct elections in all our villages, we can get everyone’s fingerprints equally.”
Meanwhile, an Abuja-based journalist, Cyril Mbah, explained that the increase in insecurity, especially around the north-central and southern zones, has caused many people pain and frustration.
He said further that there is a need to stop these bandits and terrorists who are migrating from other countries to Nigeria.
He also appealed to security agencies to close the gap in deploying strategies and technology to arrest the unbearable situation in the country.
