◾CAN Summit Condemns “Barbaric Acts,” ◾Calls for State Police and Comprehensive Compensation for Violence Victims
Nigeria’s Christian leadership has delivered a scathing assessment of the nation’s deteriorating security crisis, calling on the Federal Government to declare a State of Emergency on Security and warning that the country faces a “collective national emergency” that demands urgent, coordinated action.
The indictment came during the National Church Denominational Leaders Summit 2026, convened by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Abuja on June 2, where leaders from across Nigeria’s major Christian denominations gathered to address what they described as “an unprecedented wave of violence sweeping across the country.”
A Nation Under Siege
The Summit’s communiqué paints a grim picture of a nation gripped by escalating insecurity. Communities face relentless attacks, citizens are kidnapped from homes and workplaces, travelers are abducted on highways, and farmers are driven from their lands. Church leaders documented “countless lives” lost, homes destroyed, and innocent people “killed, maimed, displaced and, in some cases, brutally beheaded by criminal and terrorist elements.”
The violence has spread beyond traditional hotspots. While mass abductions and terrorist activities continue in the North-East, church leaders warned that kidnapping and violent crime have “spread into areas previously considered relatively safe,” with recent attacks reported in Oyo, Ogun, Borno, Kwara, Kogi and numerous other states.
The Summit expressed particular concern over the abduction of schoolchildren and teachers, attacks on farming communities, and the targeting of churches, schools and vulnerable populations by increasingly sophisticated criminal networks.
Thousands Displaced, Millions Living in Fear
Archbishop Daniel Okoh, President of CAN, led the summit in noting that thousands of Nigerians remain displaced from their ancestral communities, many families live in constant fear, and victims of violence “often receive little support, justice or compensation.”
“The continuing assault on human life, freedom and dignity poses a serious threat to national stability, unity and development,” the Communique states, highlighting the deep trauma inflicted on victims and their families.
Church Leaders Demand Decisive Action
Church leaders rejected what they characterized as inadequate government responses, criticizing the “apparent inability of existing security arrangements to provide adequate protection for citizens” and condemning what they called “recurring resort to conciliatory and pacifist rhetoric by senior government officials.”
CAN’s 16-point resolution calls for:
Immediate declaration of a State of Emergency on Security across the country
Comprehensive review of the nation’s security architecture, enhanced intelligence gathering, and stronger inter-agency cooperation
Acceleration of constitutional processes to establish State Police and other decentralized security structures for improved local accountability
Immediate release of all abducted schoolchildren, teachers and citizens held by criminal elements
Establishment of a comprehensive compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement programme for terrorism and violence victims, including families who have lost loved ones and communities whose homes, schools, churches and livelihoods have been destroyed
Safe return and resettlement of displaced persons under adequate security guarantees
National Mourning Period Declared
In a symbolic gesture of solidarity with victims, CAN declared Friday, June 12 through Sunday, June 14, 2026, as a period of national mourning, with Sunday, June 14 designated as “BLACK SUNDAY” across Nigerian churches in honour of violence victims.
Call for Broad Coalition
Church leaders called on other key stakeholders—including the Nigeria Labour Congress, Nigerian Bar Association, Nigeria Union of Teachers, student bodies, civil society organisations, traditional institutions, and “all people of goodwill”—to join in holding government accountable and ensuring sustained commitment to securing lives and property.
CAN also urged political leaders to suspend “divisive political distractions” and focus national attention on restoring security while communities remain under siege.
The Summit’s strong language underscores growing frustration among Nigeria’s religious leadership over the persistence and severity of the security crisis and the perceived inadequacy of government responses. With hundreds killed, thousands displaced, and fear spreading across previously stable regions, church leaders have signaled they will intensify advocacy and sustained dialogue with the Presidency, security agencies and the National Assembly to demand action.
