The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has called on the federal government to urgently declare a state of emergency on security to protect citizens’ lives.

The President of CAN, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, made the call on Tuesday in Abuja during the presentation of a communiqué from the association’s national church denominational leaders’ summit 2026.

The summit, themed “The State of the Nation and the Way Forward”, brought together top church leaders, block leaders, and delegates to prayerfully review the country’s challenges.

Mr Okoh clarified that the call was not a threat to President Bola Tinubu’s administration but a necessary reminder for the government to rise to its constitutional responsibility to defend the nation’s territorial integrity and promote the welfare of its people.

”We are talking to a government that still has a level of responsibility, and so they will listen. We hope that when they listen, they will do the needful.

”It has come to that point where the government will have to declare a state of emergency on security,” Mr Okoh said.

Responding to journalists’ questions about whether Nigerians should resort to self-defence, the CAN president noted that while self-preservation remained a natural human instinct, any action taken must be within the bounds of the law.

”It is a natural human instinct for one to defend himself.

”But, what we are saying in CAN is that people and churches should be able to defend themselves, their properties, and their homes within reasonable legal limits,” he stressed.

The cleric said the association would continue to deploy both media engagements and diplomatic back-channels to hold the current administration accountable.

According to him, the summit was just the initial step in a series of strategic engagements aimed at ensuring a safer nation for all citizens.

The cleric acknowledged that the security challenges, which initially worsened in the far North and North-Central, had increasingly spread southward.

He expressed support for international collaboration to end insecurity, particularly tactical cooperation between the federal government and the United States.

”If you are overwhelmed and people are coming to help you, you will not say no. You will welcome them, provided they follow the proper lines of engagement.

”Our government is cooperating with the government of the United States of America and security forces to help dislodge these miscreants and terrorists.

“The position of CAN has not changed. If it takes other countries coming to help us out of this situation, so be it,” Mr Okoh said.

 (NAN)