Insecurity: ECWA warns against ethnic, religious profiling

The Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) has decried the state of insecurity in Nigeria, saying no Nigerian feels safe anymore.

President of the Church, Rev. Stephen Panyan, Baba warned against ethnic and religious profiling of the perpetrators of crimes in the country, saying the issue was not about an individual, the tribe, language or religion of the victims and the criminals involved.

Speaking at the dedication of the worship auditorium of ECWA in Ikorodu Lagos yesterday, Panyan urged the Federal Government to restore the “country to the path of orderliness and peace by ensuring the strict adherence to the principles of equity and justice to all.”

“It is about the fact that we all live under the threat of insecurity at present in Nigeria as heinous crimes are being committed regularly.”

“We also wish to use this medium to advise Nigerians to avoid the ethnic and religious profiling of criminals. People who commit various criminalities do so on their own accord and not as representatives of their tribal or religious groups. I wish to appeal to the media to be more sensitive in news reportage so as not to lend credence to the profiling of criminals,” he added.

“At present, the division across ethnic, social and religious borders is fastthreatening the unity and coexistence of the geographical entity called Nigeria,” he said.

Panya commended the Federal Government for suspending the controversial RUGA policy, saying the government should always consult the people before implementing any sensitive policy.

He further advised the federal government to douse the current tension in the land by adhering strictly “to the Federal Character principle in the distribution of national wealth, projects and to implement policies of national unity rather than adopting divisive policies and bias leadership.”