The Archbishop
of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has bemoaned the failure of
security agencies to rescue missing Rev. Fr. Gabriel Oyaka from his
abductors after more than one year, according to News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) report.
Onaiyekan expressed the view at a press briefing following a mass in honour of the missing priest in Abuja on Thursday.
Oyaka was the financial secretary of
the Congregation of Holy Ghost Fathers and was abducted in October 2015
while he was travelling from Abuja to Onitsha, Anambra, for a meeting.
Onaiyekan noted that for over one year
Oyaka had been missing and there had been no call or demand for
ransom made by his abductors.
‘“We have reported the matter to a
senior Director in the Department of State Security. Youths, hunters
from Okene and the police were in the bush for three days looking for
him. Three police commands are involved FCT, Kogi and Edo.
“This is a tragedy that has overtaken
our land and the name keeps on recurring that Fulani herdsmen are behind
all these killings, kidnappings and destructions of lives and property
in the country.
“The government has a responsibility to
protect lives and properties of its citizens and the church cannot do
anything except the government do their job.
“From my own observation, we are faced
with national emergency and the whole country should come together to
find out ways to end this militancy.
‘’If it is a matter of declaring war, let us declare war against the perpetrators of all these evils,” he said.
Onaiyekan appealed to all religious
leaders to come together and find a lasting solution to the unlawful
killing of innocent people.
”We must know that what is happening in
our country is going round the world but we will continue to pray for
the system which has failed us to improve,” he added.
On his part, Rev. Fr. Daniel Abba,
former Provincial Superior of the Holy Ghost Congregation, North-West
Nigeria, said that Nigerians should all contribute towards lasting
peace in the country.
Abba said the security agents who were
searching for the missing priest did their best although their
performance remained “unsatisfactory” because Oyaka had not been
found.
Contributing , the Assistant
Superior-General of the Holy Ghost Congregation, Rev. Fr. Bede Ukuije,
urged Nigerians to resist evil and embrace peace.
Ukuije further said that ‘’we must all promote what is good’’, adding that ‘’what occupies our minds shape our thoughts.’’ (NAN)
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