The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has observed with dismay that the level of banditry, kidnapping, violence, insecurity and killings across the country has risen to an intolerable height, calling for divine intervention and urgent government action.

Speaking on Sunday at the end of the PFN’s three-day national fasting and prayer programme, its National President, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, said, “Several Chibok girls are still languishing in captivity, years after being massively kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents.

“Leah Sharibu is still shackled in bondage by religious kidnappers because she refused to renounce her Christian faith. And the Nigeria state did nothing. Student Deborah Samuel was burnt to death in Sokoto by a murderous mob simply for mentioning the name of Jesus and nothing happened to her killers.”

Represented by Bishop Musa Dasikwo, the Kaduna State Chairman of PFN, Oke added, “Since then, Taraba, Plateau, Benue states and Southern Kaduna have become daily killing fields. Edo, Kogi and Ondo states have also not been spared.

“As of today, several communities in Kwara State have been sacked by rampaging bandits, wielding sophisticated guns and other dangerous weapons.”

He lamented that innocent people were kidnapped, raped and killed in large numbers in Borno, Niger, Sokoto, Kaduna and other states of the federation, stressing that Oyo State had become the latest killing field, culminating in the abduction of several teachers and students, with one of the teachers, Mr Michael Oyedokun, reportedly beheaded and another shot dead.

The PFN National President said they mourned what he described as the “apparent lack of a firm political will by the country’s government to crush these horrible evils in Nigeria”, adding that allowing it to spread unchecked amounts to empty promises that have done no good.

“Nigerians are sick and tired of this evil and the apparent misplaced focus on winning elections by all means rather than focusing the full weight of our law and federal might to crush the killers of Nigerians. Rather than doing this, our governments are rehabilitating our so-called repentant Boko Haram killers, even drafting them into our security network,” he lamented.

According to him, “What is going on in Nigeria does more than take lives. It fractures unity, scares away investors, drives our best minds abroad, weakens the bond between the citizens and the state and creates a wave of insecurity and terror that makes the Nigerian people no longer feel safe.”

He called on the Federal Government to fulfil its constitutional and moral duty of protecting every citizen irrespective of tribe or religion, so that the country may truly become a nation where no one is oppressed.

The Kano State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (KSCHMA) says it has enrolled vulnerable groups, including hypertensive and HIV patients and inmates in correctional centres, into the state’s healthcare insurance scheme.

The Executive Secretary of the agency, Rahila Aliyu-Mukhtar, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Kano.

Ms Aliyu-Mukhtar said the agency had enrolled more than 6,000 vulnerable hypertensive patients across the state to help them access medications and investigations they ordinarily could not afford.

According to her, the intervention has contributed to reducing complications arising from hypertension in the state.

“We received a nationally generated report indicating that Kano State has reduced complications arising from hypertension.

“This can be attributed to the hypertensive patients we enrolled under the scheme,” she said.

The executive secretary added that more than 6,000 people living with HIV have also been enrolled in the programme.

She explained that although antiretroviral drugs were provided through donor support, beneficiaries still require healthcare support for other illnesses such as malaria, typhoid, diabetes, and hypertension.

Ms Aliyu-Mukhtar further disclosed that the agency had concluded plans to enrol 6,000 tuberculosis patients under its vulnerable group programme.

“We realised that TB patients also need support beyond their TB medications because secondary health conditions may arise,” she said.

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She also said the agency had enrolled all inmates in correctional centres across the state, describing it as the first initiative of its kind in the country.

Ms Aliyu-Mukhtar noted that the initiative earned the Kano State government commendation from the Controller-General of Corrections.

According to her, other states have contacted the agency to understudy the implementation model adopted by Kano State.

She said the agency remained committed to reducing out-of-pocket healthcare spending and improving access to healthcare services for vulnerable residents.

(NAN)