OSOGBO, Nigeria — The Christian Association of Nigeria and the Osun State Muslim community have introduced new protective measures to safeguard worship centres following a terror alert issued by Nigeria’s Department of State Services.
Okay News reports that the Department of State Services held separate meetings with religious leaders in Osogbo last week to advise them to take precautionary measures against potential security threats.
The intelligence report indicated that terrorists planned to spread insecurity to the South-West region of Nigeria to create tension ahead of the upcoming presidential election.
The State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor John Adeleke, urged churches to strengthen internal security departments, inspect vehicles, verify bags, and profile unfamiliar visitors entering church premises.
“We also encourage churches to raise an alarm when they notice some insecurity or danger in your community. Discourage night vigil, clubbing and travelling for members,” Adeleke said.
“We also decided that, where possible, car parks should be 100 metres from the church building, and church leaders should stop celebrating wealthy people in the congregation, especially those whose sources of wealth they do not know,” Adeleke said.
The Public Relations Officer of the Osun State Muslim community, Hameed Oyegbade, confirmed that leaders urged chief imams to maintain security presences during Friday Jumat services and ensure vehicles are not parked near mosque structures.
“We have also tasked imams to use their pulpits to spread the message of caution across the state, report suspicious movements among worshippers to security agencies and not take the risk of giving strangers cover without first knowing them properly,” Oyegbade said.
The Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, issued a statement through his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, commending the security agency for its proactive steps and announcing plans to convene the State Security Council to evaluate public safety strategies.
“I commend the Department of State Services, DSS, for taking proactive measures to counter the threats. I charge other security agencies to review the situation and develop an action plan to strengthen security of lives and property,” Governor Adeleke said.
“I will soon convene the State Security Council meeting to assess the situation and the workability of our response plans. As residents of this state, we must collaborate with the security agencies through information sharing,” Governor Adeleke said.
“We should be wary of people we host in our communities. On this note, I charge our royal fathers to also hold their traditional council meetings on this development. We must nip in the bud the evil plans of enemies of public peace,” Governor Adeleke said.
“Our administration is committed to post-election peace-building, and we must tighten state security to foil any attempt by terrorists and bandits to disrupt public peace,” Governor Adeleke said.
