The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has ordered churches under its umbrella to immediately suspend late-night activities and fortify their premises against a rising tide of kidnappings that has set communities on edge.
The directive, issued on Wednesday in Ibadan via a formal communiqué jointly signed by Oyo CAN Chairman Elisha Ogundiya and Secretary Samuel Owolabi, marks one of the most sweeping security responses by a religious body in the state’s recent history, a sobering signal that the threat has moved beyond remote communities and is now knocking on the doors of houses of worship.
For millions of Christians across Oyo State, the church has long been a sanctuary, a place of refuge, prayer, and community. But that sense of safety is now under direct threat, and CAN’s leadership is refusing to look away.
“Due to incessant abduction and kidnapping in recent times, Oyo CAN advises churches to be more security conscious by positioning security personnel and other electronic devices strategically within their premises and neighborhood,” the communiqué read.
The association went further, calling on congregations to “intensify prayers towards the release of abductees,” while suspending late physical activities, a directive that will effectively shut down the vibrant after-hours prayer meetings, youth vigils, and evening fellowships that are a cornerstone of Christian life in Yorubaland.
Beyond cancelling night programs, CAN’s directives read like a detailed security operations manual, one that reflects the gravity with which the association is treating the situation.
Churches that remain unfenced and unprotected have been told in no uncertain terms to make perimeter fencing and gating their next priority project. Church leaders have been urged, as a matter of urgency, to deploy trained security personnel, not volunteers or casual watchmen, particularly during church services when large crowds make congregations most vulnerable.
In a particularly telling measure, the association directed every church to conduct private security assessments of its guards and other essential personnel, a move suggesting concerns not just about external threats but the possibility of inside access being exploited by criminal elements.
The directive also tackled an often-overlooked vulnerability: strangers sleeping within church sanctuaries and premises. Going forward, churches have been instructed to disallow this practice entirely.
CAN’s communiqué did not confine its warnings to the walls of the church. In a broader public advisory, the association called on citizens across Oyo State to limit travel and avoid late-night movements altogether, an appeal that paints a vivid picture of how severely public confidence in personal safety has eroded.
The association also threw its weight behind an executive order issued by Governor Seyi Makinde, which bans commercial motorcycle operators, popularly known as okada riders, from operating after 10:30 pm.
CAN urged its members to comply with the restriction, which authorities hope will cut off a key mode of transport frequently exploited in abduction operations.
The communiqué arrives against a backdrop of growing public anxiety over what residents and security analysts describe as an alarming spike in abductions across Oyo State.
While security forces have made intermittent arrests and recorded some rescues, the persistence of the trend has eroded public trust and forced institutions, religious, civic, and governmental alike, to act.
That a body as influential as CAN has felt compelled to mobilize its entire church network around security protocols speaks volumes about the scale of the challenge. For many church-going Oyo residents, the directive is a jarring reminder that nowhere, not even the house of God, can be considered automatically safe.
As congregations across the state begin implementing CAN’s guidelines, the deeper question lingers: when will robust, sustained government action match the urgency that ordinary Nigerians and their institutions are already showing on the ground?
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Oyo State has sounded a major alarm over the escalating kidnapping crisis by ordering churches to suspend late-night activities, erect security fences, deploy trained guards, and screen their personnel.
The directive, while practical and necessary, delivers a chilling message: when a religious body must transform its houses of worship into fortified compounds, the security situation has reached a critical breaking point.
The burden of protection should not fall on congregations alone it is a urgent call to government authorities to step up, take decisive action, and restore the safety that every Oyo State resident deserves.
