Pray for police, Pastor E. A Adeboye urges Nigerians

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, on Sunday, urged members of the public to join him in praying for the Nigerian Police Force. The call came as the church and the country mourned the bombing carried out on a RCCG parish in Yobe State. The revered cleric, who took to Twitter to make the appeal, said Nigerians needed to pray for the security agents as “safety is of the Lord.” Adeboye, specifically, asked God to protect officers of the force, give them wisdom and help them to fear Him. He noted that the police could only protect Nigerians when they, in turn, were protected. “Father, please give the NPF the fear of God so that they can know the meaning of wisdom,” he pleaded. Adeboye said the police and other armed forces needed the help of God to discharge their mandate to the country. He also called on Nigerians to be cautious of the fact that they would not leave the earth with anything when they died. This, he said, should guide them in their day-to-day relationship with one another. “Don’t live this life like you are not going to leave again. Remember you brought nothing into this world and, I promise you, you are taking nothing out,” he tweeted. He said those who pleased God could have their number of days on earth prolonged, but stressed that everybody would eventually die – a reason, he said, people should shun evils. The church had made headlines for bloggers on Sunday after a female suicide bomber reportedly detonated explosives strapped to her body during a service at a RCCG in Yobe. The explosion reportedly killed five worshipers, including a pastor of the church. It is the latest in the series of bombings allegedly carried out by Boko Haram in its renewed campaign in North- East. The digital media on Sunday were awash with photographs of the bombed church building and other sorrowful images of Boko Haram activities. Users of social media called for urgent actions to stem the violence. Andy Elemi, posting on Facebook, said Nigeria either confronted the terrorists squarely or faced a frightening future. He said there was no better time to move against the insurgents than now. “We cannot continue to behave as if this is a little problem staring at us. We either face the insurgents fully or get crushed. We have to make the hard choice, and it has to be now or never. They have done terrible damage already,” he lamented. The Federal Government, in the past, had explored different international collaborations to stop Boko Haram. Since the inauguration of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, the President had met with neighbouring countries to strategise on how to stop the terror attacks. He had also met with foreign powers on ending the insurgency, which has long assumed more than a threat. Bombings have continued to rock the North-East, forcing the government to consider new strategies, including a negotiation. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, had told British Broadcasting Corporation that the government was open to a negotiation with the terrorists. He, however, expressed hope that the insurgents would be defeated eventually. “You will notice that his (the President) first two weeks of administration were dedicated to tackling the insurgency. He visited Chad and Niger Republic. The following week, presidents of those countries also visited him in Abuja. “The President of Benin Republic and the Defence Minister of Cameroon visited him. Machinery is being put in place and once we are through, we will see the end of the group. The target time for the deployment of the multinational force is July ending – that is in a couple of weeks.”