{"id":83251,"date":"2026-04-29T13:34:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T13:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=83251"},"modified":"2026-04-29T13:34:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T13:34:36","slug":"ekiti-attack-an-assault-on-church-human-dignity-can","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2026\/04\/29\/ekiti-attack-an-assault-on-church-human-dignity-can\/","title":{"rendered":"Ekiti Attack, an Assault on Church, Human Dignity -CAN"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Samson Adeyanju\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), has described the recent attack on a church gathering in Eda Oniyo, Ekiti State, where a pastor was killed and several worshippers abducted, as an assault on the Church, human dignity, and the sanctity of life.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by the President of CAN, His Eminence, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, CAN expressed deep shock over the incident, noting that the victims were attacked while peacefully gathered for an open-air crusade.<\/p>\n

The association strongly condemned the violence, stressing that it was not only an attack on a place of worship but also a \u201cbrutal assault on shared humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

CAN mourned with the family of the slain pastor and expressed solidarity with the victims and the Christian community in Ekiti State. It also called for the immediate and safe release of those abducted, urging security agencies to act without delay.<\/p>\n

The association further noted that the Ekiti incident reflects a disturbing pattern of insecurity, referencing similar attacks in parts of Kogi State where residents, including clergy and their families, were abducted. It warned that the repeated incidents point to a deepening security crisis in the country.<\/p>\n

CAN stressed that the protection of lives and property remains the primary responsibility of government, calling for swift, decisive, and transparent action to apprehend the perpetrators and rescue the abducted victims unharmed.<\/p>\n

It also urged authorities to strengthen security presence in vulnerable communities and improve intelligence gathering to prevent further attacks.<\/p>\n

The body condemned what it described as the growing normalization of violence against worshippers, warning that such acts reflect a dangerous disregard for life, faith, and national values.<\/p>\n

It called on Nigerians and relevant authorities to speak out firmly against insecurity and ensure that places of worship are not turned into targets for criminal attacks.<\/p>\n

CAN concluded by praying for comfort for the bereaved families, the safe return of the abducted worshippers, and lasting peace and security in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Samson Adeyanju\u00a0 The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), has described the recent attack on a church gathering in Eda Oniyo, Ekiti State, where a pastor was killed and several worshippers abducted, as an assault on the Church, human dignity, and the sanctity of life. In a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":83227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177,172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abuja-reports","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83252,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83251\/revisions\/83252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}