The Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Nike in Enugu, Christian Onyia, has listed injustice, inequity, poverty, illiteracy and unemployment as causes of banditry and kidnapping.

“Inequity, injustice, poverty, lack of education and lack of opportunities for employment are major drivers of insecurity in the country. If these problems are addressed, the recruitment of young people by groups of bandits will be limited,” Mr Oniya said.

He made this known on Saturday while reading his Bishop Charge at the Third Session of the Fifth Synod of the Diocese held at St. Peters Anglican Church, Thinkers Corner, Enugu.

Stating that Nigeria needs to deal with the fundamental issues that lead people into violence and violent crimes, Mr Oniya said the continuous and unabated banditry and kidnapping within communities and states had continued to portray the country as unsafe.

The cleric noted that kidnapping of school children in their tens and hundreds was a threat to education, adding that with the current spate of kidnapping and banditry it “seems the federal and state governments are not doing enough to tackle them.”

Mr Oniya charged Nigerian christians to run for and take up elective leadership positions in order to correct the country’s anomalies, especially the issue of insecurity.

(NAN)