The Christian Association of Nigeria in Ogun State has expressed grief over the death of a pastor, Kayode Oluwakemi, at the hands of kidnappers who abducted seven congregants, all of whom were freed in the state.
The churchgoers were conducting a vigil at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Desires of Nations Parish, when the kidnappers stormed the church premises at Abule-Ori, in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, killed the pastor, and kidnapped seven worshippers.
While reacting to the incident, the General Secretary of CAN, Dr Stephen Adeyemi, urged the government to step up measures to reduce insecurity around worship centres in the state.
He said, “It is a very sad incident. And sincerely, this brings to mind a kind of question that, is it now a sin for the worshipers to gather to worship God? We are talking about being in the church, our sanctuary. We are talking about worshipers gathering in the temple to pray, praise and sing and all these attacks are coming to the children of God right in the house of God.
“Sincerely speaking, it is worrisome and it is already creating fear in the kind of society we find ourselves in. It is like saying that we are not safe. This has happened before; now it is happening again, under a new government.
“It means we need to cry to the government the more. I believe that this problem has a solution. We are crying to the government. The government needs to look into this issue of insecurity. How these people come freely into the house of God, operate and go away like that. The government needs to help us with this.”