Apostle Sediq Moses is the General Overseer of Christ Holy Mountain House of Prayer for All People International. In this interview with Ebube Eruchalu, Moses explains why young Nigerians take to crime and suggests ways to check the escalating trend.
What do you think is the reason for young Nigerians taking to crime?
As a man of God, we’re Master Builders when it comes to the thing’s that pertain to humanity. But one of the reasons we see so many young Nigerians going into crime are parents. This is because parents are the number one teachers every child has in his or her life.
Any knowledge or wisdom a parent cannot impart into any child might end up turning the life of that child upside down. The child will begin to do what God has not ordained for their life. This is why we see some people who used to be young, vibrant children, later doing what they were not supposed to do. Maybe because enough discipline was not instilled by the parent or parents. Parents will not be able to tame their children.
However, there are some children you cannot tame these days because of the kind of friends they end up living. That is why some will not be able to tell their parents who their friends are. They had rather met their friends outside the home front.
If they come home with different characters, even as a parent, you may not discover it, but with time, it will begin to show. For instance, a child who usually returns home by 8: PM, suddenly starts returning home by 10: PM, a parent should immediately start asking questions.
A lot of young children are into crime today because of failure by parents to give parental care to them, which is the first paramount thing that the Lord asked us to do. It’s there in the Book of Proverbs 22:6, which says, ‘Bring up a child in a way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.’
If you don’t impart God into a child, he or she will begin to have the character of the devil, which is to steal, kill and destroy. Also, another reason is a parent’s failure to discipline a child from a young age, whereby he or she wants to do the wrong thing. The parent has to do the needful by making sure that the child doesn’t go astray, so that such a child will accomplish what God has ordained for his or her life.
What can parents do to check children going into crime?
A parent should learn how to submit or commit their children to God, who is the author and finisher of all things. This is because in the first place, God owns those children. Like the Bible tells me in the Book of Psalm 127:6, ‘Lo, children are a heritage from the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.’ So any inheritance that has to do with God, it takes only the owner of that inheritance to take care of that.
The first thing, as I said before is to commit them back to God by saying, ‘Lord help me to take care of this child, so that he or she will not become something to be ashamed of.’ So handing the child over to God is a very important thing every parent should do.
Do you think the unemployment rate is the reason for the outrageous spike of crime in Nigeria?
It is not so because the government is trying its best and the individuals are also trying their best, so you can’t tell me 90% of the company in Nigeria belongs to the government.
The answer is no! We have people who are self-employed with various types of gifts which they use to make a living. One cannot come and tell me that because of the failure of the government to empower the youths that is why they are going into crime. For example, my parents died when I was at the age of 17, I should have said okay, this is an avenue to become a criminal or put my hope on the government, which is totally impossible!
The government is not the reason why there is unemployment out there today. There are people who have things to do and others who are not content with what they have.
There is also a spirit that makes one act like a criminal, which is the full picture of when the devil possesses an individual. The Bible says in the Book of John 10:10, ‘the thief cometh not but to steal, kill and destroy: then Jesus also says that I am come that they might have life and that they may have it more abundantly.’ Any time we see someone with a criminal act, there is a spirit behind it. One cannot just wake up in the morning and decide they want to perform heinous acts. It’s not just about the government. It’s all about us realising that there is a spirit that can possess one to become a criminal.
All in all, the government is trying its best and owners of companies are also trying. When some of them are employed, we definitely have people God has saved from criminal acts.
I’m talking to you because this is my experience as a man of God. Once in a while, this spirit can come upon anybody, but there are some foolish things God can be involved in and they look criminal. Sometimes, that is why the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:27, ‘But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.’
How well do you think the government is investing to curtail or halt crime?
The government has really done enough to make sure that anything that has to do with crime dies down. There have been periods where the government has employed security officials like the army and police to restore peace to the society.
We have also heard about how the government deployed troops to silent Boko Haram and bring an end to the insurgency that is ravaging some parts of the country. What I believe is that the government is doing enough to make sure Grace abound to help Nigerians to stop living in fear of criminals.
I will also advise the government to believe in God more because He is the author of protection. There is no one who will say the government’s seat fell from somewhere upon him because promotion came from somewhere, so they have to look up to God for protection. They should also believe that God can help them to invest more in protecting the country.
For example, God can release his angels. If you read the Book of Matthew 26:53, that says, ‘are you not aware that I can pray to my father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?’
What does that mean? When you are trying the physical aspect of whatsoever, you have also to try God for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal; you may carry your weapon to fight, but someone who is more powerful will carry his and destroy yours. The most important thing is to learn how to obey the principle of God because he will show you and give you the direction about how to go.
How do you react to insinuations that government’s ineptitude causes youth to take to crime?
Like I said before, you can’t say that someone who is possessed by the devil or because the government is not helping the youth, is the reason there are crimes across Nigeria.
There are people who don’t know that the government has what it takes and they are trying their best. ‘Until you are on a particular throne, you’ll not know how difficult it is to be there. For example, if you look at a man who is with his wife and two kids in the house, if he doesn’t come and tell you what he is passing through, you will not know and when you see him going out of his house, one might think that all is well with him.
The same man will tell you ‘my wife insulted me.’ Is it the government that caused it? No! There’re a lot of people who have lost their jobs in government as a result of what is happening in their homes.
There is one thing the government of Nigeria needs and it is called unity. The moment they find it, whatsoever they are looking for in their youth will be discovered and this unity can only be found in the hand of God.
All our questions still end up on God, so the problem is not the incompetency; rather the problem is what we can do to help the government.
For example, in my church, there are so many youths I have helped through our media department and they have been a blessing to society. The government belongs to God and not the people. The President or Governor is there because of God; that is why the bible says in Isaiah 9:6, the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and The Prince of Peace. What this part of the scripture is saying is that any kind of government a man wants to maintain on earth run to God he will give better counsel and he is ever ready to be of help to what he has created for himself.
It’s not just the government because there are people here in Nigeria that have companies to employ more hundreds and thousands of people at a time and there is nothing you can do to make a man happy, because while you are trying to do that, they will still make you unhappy thereby making you feel you are not doing enough.
Do you think the church has a role to play in checking youth crime?
That is 100% certain because the church already has the opportunity not to take laws into their own hands. They already have the laws by being the real law makers like my bible tells me in the book of Psalms 72:1, ‘Give the king thy judgments, O God, and your righteousness to the king’s son.
I must also state that it’s high time the church was given the opportunity to act exactly the way God has designed it to be. The government of Nigeria cannot check the church. It is the church that is supposed to check the government, because Jesus is not on the government shoulders, it is the government that is upon Jesus’s shoulders. He is the one carrying the government and now the government wants to carry the church, which is totally impossible. Anyone who needs counsel on earth should run to the church because it can change the heart of the youth from wrong to right. That’s my message.
Mr Ebube Eruchalu is a 300Level Mass Communication undergraduate, Anchor University.
First Published 2021
