The Diocese of Calabar, Methodist Church Nigeria has called for the suspension of the proposed national population and housing census scheduled for take-off on May 3, 2023 until security situation in the country improves.
The church said with the spate of insecurity in Benue, Kaduna and some parts of the North East region, it would be difficult to come out with authentic figures for the exercise, given the fact that all the places particularly in the trouble areas cannot be easily accessed.
The Methodist Archbishop of Calabar, the Most Rev Chimezuo Nwankpa, made the call during an interaction with journalists yesterday in Calabar at the end of 47th synod organised by the church.
The cleric said population census figures can better be arrived at when the enumerators are able to access all the nooks and crannies of the country to come out with figures to be used for economic planning.
On the theme of the synod: “Contending for the Faith” (drawn from the book of Jude 1:3), the clergyman said it would be better for the federal government to heed on the advice to avoid carrying out exercise in futility.
Reading from a communique signed by the church lay president, Prof Miranda Dosunmu and communique committee chairman, Elder Offiong Unoh and Archbishop Nwankpa, the church said the volatile areas would be difficult to access by census enumerators considering the high level of insecurity in the country.
The church called for caution on the part of the federal government so as not to misfire as far as the census is concerned.
