ABUJA, NIGERIA — As pervasive insecurity continues to challenge the geopolitical stability of Nigeria, the President of the Senate, Chief Godswill Akpabio, has revealed that a severe surge in high-profile kidnappings, active militancy, and targeted killings during his historical executive tenure as the Governor of Akwa Ibom State directly prompted his administration to institutionalize mandatory monthly spiritual prayer sessions. The veteran politician framed the spiritual intervention as a foundational pillar of his broader strategic efforts to confront and neutralize the severe security threats that had paralyzed parts of the oil-rich Niger Delta region nearly two decades ago.
The Senate President made this disclosure on Sunday during a high-profile Inter-Denominational Church Service held at the National Christian Centre in the capital city of Abuja. The solemn religious gathering was organized as a cornerstone event to officially commemorate this year’s National Democracy Day celebrations, drawing together senior federal lawmakers, judicial officers, members of the diplomatic corps, and prominent ecclesiastical authorities from across the West African nation.
Reflecting on his past administrative experiences navigating complex internal security crises as a state executive, Akpabio told the congregation that he often wondered how much more destructive and unmanageable the local security environment might have become without the stabilizing presence of sustained, state-backed communal prayers. Utilizing his personal governance history as a source of contemporary encouragement, the legislative leader passionately urged the Nigerian populace not to surrender to despair or lose faith in the corporate survival of the republic, despite the country’s current, multifaceted security anxieties.
"When I was granted the historic opportunity by the electorate to serve as the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State approximately 19 years ago, I immediately initiated a policy of mandatory monthly prayer sessions across the state," Akpabio stated from the pulpit. "During those difficult days, whenever our communities were struck by waves of active militancy, rampant kidnapping, and senseless killings, I used to constantly ask myself a fundamental question. I would look at the chaos and say, what if we as a people were not actively praying? How much worse would this structural decay be?"
Drawing direct parallels between the historic crises of the Niger Delta and the contemporary security dilemmas currently ravaging various geopolitical zones of modern Nigeria—including banditry in the northwest, insurgency in the northeast, and secessionist violence in the southeast—Akpabio called upon the citizenry to maintain an unyielding commitment to national intercession. He emphasized that spiritual persistence was vital to ensuring that the covert actors driving domestic instability are ultimately unmasked by state authorities.
"We must continue praying without ceasing so that the evil doers, the perpetrators of violence, and their wealthy financial sponsors shall be thoroughly exposed by the state," the Senate President declared. "If these saboteurs are embedded within the apparatus of government, they shall be exposed to the public. If they operate from outside the structures of government, they shall equally be exposed and brought to justice."
The leader of the National Assembly openly acknowledged the deep psychological pain, generational trauma, and economic devastation that widespread insecurity continues to inflict upon families across the federation. He noted with profound empathy that the frequency of highway kidnappings and coordinated attacks on rural agrarian communities has left countless ordinary citizens enduring a grueling state of emotional uncertainty regarding the physical safety and ultimate fate of their abducted loved ones.
Yet, despite the formidable nature of these contemporary national trials, Akpabio expressed absolute, unshakeable confidence that Nigeria would successfully navigate and overcome its current systemic difficulties. To validate his optimism, he pointed directly to the historical resilience of the Nigerian state, which has repeatedly survived prolonged periods of severe political instability, acute economic turbulence, armed insurgencies, and unprecedented public health emergencies.
"As a resilient nation, we have successfully survived major political upheavals, military interventions, and deep economic turbulence over our journey as a sovereign state," Akpabio reasoned. "We will undoubtedly survive these current insurgencies and criminal networks. We have previously survived terrifying global pandemics, including the localized Ebola outbreak and the widespread ravages of COVID-19. Yet, despite all these existential threats, here we stand today, celebrating over 27 years of uninterrupted democratic governance and unbroken constitutional order."
Turning his address toward the current federal executive infrastructure, Akpabio utilized the Democracy Day platform to explicitly assure the international community and the Nigerian electorate that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains fully committed to aggressively tackling the root causes of national insecurity. He reiterated that the presidency is actively deploying renewed tactical, technological, and intelligence resources to restore permanent peace across troubled borderlands and to secure the unconditional release of all citizens currently held in forest captivity by terrorist syndicates.
According to the Senate President, the deployment of robust state military operations, when combined with the moral power of national prayers and collective societal perseverance, will eventually break the backbone of the country’s criminal cartels, ultimately delivering a stable, prosperous, and significantly safer future for all segments of the Nigerian population.
