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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Disasters & Emergencies

Insecurity: CAN declares national mourning, demands emergency

From The Punch · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) declared a three-day national mourning period starting June 12 over the country's worsening security situation.
  • CAN called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on security and demanded decisive action to end bloodshed.
  • The association also urged a review of the security architecture and the acceleration of state police establishment.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has declared a three-day national mourning period, beginning June 12, in response to the escalating insecurity plaguing the country. The decision, reached at the National Church Denominational Leaders Summit in Abuja, also includes a call for the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on security matters.

CAN declares Friday, June 12, 2026, as the commencement of a three-day period of national mourning, to continue through Sunday, June 14, 2026.

— CAN CommuniquéAnnouncing the period of mourning in response to the security crisis.

CAN expressed profound alarm over the rising tide of violence, including killings, kidnappings, terrorist attacks, and the destruction of communities. The association condemned the "barbaric acts" and urged the government to take urgent, decisive, and measurable action to end the bloodshed and restore public confidence. It stressed that protecting lives and property is the government's foremost constitutional responsibility.

CAN further designates Sunday, June 14, 2026, as ‘Black Sunday’ across churches in Nigeria in honour of victims of violence and in solidarity with families affected by insecurity.

— CAN CommuniquéDetailing the observance of the mourning period.

The church leaders also advocated for a comprehensive review of Nigeria's security architecture. They called for improved intelligence gathering, stronger inter-agency cooperation, and enhanced operational effectiveness against terrorism and banditry. CAN criticized the perceived inadequacy of current intelligence mechanisms and the government's tendency towards "conciliatory and pacifist rhetoric" in the face of grave threats.

CAN expresses profound alarm over the escalating violence across Nigeria, including killings, kidnappings, abductions, terrorist attacks and the destruction of communities.

— CAN CommuniquéExpressing deep concern over the security situation.

Furthermore, CAN urged the acceleration of constitutional and legislative processes for establishing state police and other decentralized security structures. The summit noted with concern the growing wave of attacks across various states, warning that the continued assault on human life and dignity poses a serious threat to the nation.

CAN condemns in the strongest terms the barbaric acts of murder, beheading, torture, rape, abduction and forced displacement being perpetrated against innocent citizens, and calls on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on security across the country.

— CAN CommuniquéCondemning the violence and demanding government action.
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Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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