The Eselu of Iselu Kingdom, Yewa-North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi, has urged the Christian Association of Nigeria to facilitate the deployment of Closed-Circuit Televisions to every church in the country.
The Ogun monarch also advised Churches across the country to deploy the latest security gadgets to checkmate security threats in their environment.
Oba Eselu gave this advice following the recent killing of worshippers at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, on Sunday.
The monarch in an open letter, a copy of which was made available to newsmen on Tuesday, was addressed to the CAN president, Supo Ayokunle.
The monarch warned that if proactive measures were not taken, such an occurrence could discourage a lot of worshippers from attending church services.
The letter read in parts, “This gruesome attack is not only heinous but sacrilegious. In fact, we must all stand up more than before to vehemently condemn and reject the invasion of churches by unknown gunmen
“It is important to note that the Owo tragedy is capable of putting an unprecedented fear into the minds of the children of God and this alone can make them desist from going to worship centres to pray to God.
“To me, we must not allow things to degenerate to that level where Christians will desist from congregating to worship God.
“My admonition to CAN is that, as a matter of urgency, they should facilitate the deployment of some ‘closed-circuit televisions (CCTV) to every church in the country so as to constantly monitor the movement in and out of worship centres.
“The video footage from the CCTV will continually assist the church authorities to raise alarm to security agents when the need arises.
“CAN should also mandate all churches in the country to purchase and use security gadgets for their protection.
“Let us all direct our energies towards an outright stoppage of this madness in our dear country, Nigeria.
“I believe that once this technology and other security gadgets are deployed in all churches across the country, the children of God will boldly and regularly congregate to worship the Almighty God.”
The Eselu, however, commiserated with the state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu; the Olowo of Owo, Oba Ajibade Gbadegesin, and the Christian community in Ondo State, urging CAN to ‘put the safety of the worshipers at the front burner.’
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