By EMMANUEL ACHA

The Christian Student Movement (SCM) of Nigeria has raised concern over the rising spate of banditry and general insecurity in the South-East.

The President of the SCM, Mrs Eberechukwu Ubesie, disclosed this on Wednesday in Enugu during her inaugural press briefing as the newly elected leader of the group.

Ubesie said that the group was worried that the current state of insecurity in the region, especially, in Ebonyi, had displaced some members of certain communities from their ancestral homes.

The president, however, said that the SCM would in line with its humanitarian intervention mobilise the necessary support for such displaced persons.

“We also condemn the spate of kidnap and banditry going on in the country, especially, as it affects innocent and harmless students in our schools.

“We plead with the Federal Government to do all it can to scale down the level of insecurity in the country,” she said.

Ubesie, who is the first female president of the SCM, said that its major thrust was evangelisation and discipleship of students in secondary and tertiary institutions of learning in the country.

She said that the group was formed in 1940 by the duo of the former Premier of the defunct Eastern Region, late Dr Akanu Ibiam and a one-time Secretary to the defunct Western Region, Chief Theophilus Ejiwumi.

“The SCM has affected the lives of men and women who have contributed immensely to the development and building of Christianity and the Nigerian society,” she said.

She said that the group also had the mandate of securing better future for the young people through sponsorship of skill acquisition programmes.

Ubesie said that the group would soon be launching the SCM Endowment Fund aimed at raising N1billion that would assist in catering for the needy.

Earlier, the immediate past president of the group, Mr Godwin Ogenyi, said that the SCM had in the last 81 years of its existence revived the moral standards of young Nigerians.

Ogenyi said that such people, who encountered the SCM in their respective schools, had stood out as shining examples in their chosen careers by promoting righteousness. (NAN)

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