The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has berated what it called the ‘federal government’s insensitive’ handling of the recent protests against hardship and bad governance across the country.

The bishops of the church, who met in Abuja on Tuesday, criticized the government’s insensitivity to the plight of citizens and its failure to address the root causes of the protests, calling for an immediate end to hunger and bad governance in the country.

The clerics also condemned the killing of protesters by security agents and called for the training and retraining of security forces.

The bishops in a statement issued at the end of the House of Bishops’ meeting, signed by the Primate and Metropolitan of the Church, the Most Rev’d Dr. Henry C. Ndukuba, and the Rt. Rev’d Dr. Williams Aladekugbe, Episcopal Secretary, said: “The protest is a clarion call to governments at all levels, especially the federal, to heed the cry of the people, and not scapegoat anyone as no government can legislate or stop people who are hungry from protesting.

“We strongly condemn the killing of some protesters by the security agents and call for the training and retraining of our security forces on the acceptable standards of engagement in matters like this.

“We urge the government to quickly sit down, seriously discuss the demands of the protesters, and come out with immediate, short-term, and long-term measures to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians.”

The clergymen further expressed concern over the rising cases of kidnapping and banditry and urged the government to take decisive action to ensure security and food security in the country.

They also hailed the recent Supreme Court judgment granting autonomy to local government areas and called for effective implementation.