The Catholic Diocese of Osogbo has urged
the police, the Department of State Security and other agencies in Osun
State to beef up security ahead of the installation of a new bishop of
the diocese, Monsignor John Oyejola.
Worried by the series of abduction of
reverend fathers and nuns, the Vicar General, Mike Okodua, said this in
Osogbo on Friday at a press conference to herald the ordination of
Oyejola coming up next Thursday at the St. Benedict Cathedral.
Okodua said the Birch had visited the
police, the DSS, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, as well
as the Federal Road Safety Corps to ensure a hitch-free vehicular
movement.
The cleric said 50 bishops, imams, monarchs and other dignitaries had been invited to witness the ordination.
He said, “We are all aware of the
security challenges in the country and the church is leaving no stone
unturned regarding this. We have informed the police, the FRSC for
vehicular movement, the NSCDC and the DSS of this programme.
“They have all assured us that there the ordination of the new bishop will be hitch-free.
“Abduction is a challenge and we will
overcome it. Nobody is immune from this; if priests and nuns could be
abducted, then who is safe? We need to pray because there is no mountain
prayer cannot move.
“Security agencies also should be
forthright with their duties. We should be security conscious and be our
brothers’ keepers. We need prayers, we prayers we can change all this.”
He also stated that Oyejola, who was
appointed as the new bishop of Osogbo Diocese on April 2, 2016, became
the second bishop of the diocese since its creation in 1995.
He succeeded Archbisop Gabriel Abegunrin, who was elevated and transferred to the archdiocese of Ibadan in October 2013.
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