ESSENCE Volume 15 Number 1 2026

THE GOSPEL AND INSECURITY IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF THE FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY

SYRENIUS DANGANA OKORIKO PROF. CHARLES OGUNDU NNAJI PROF. ADEOLA KEHINDE
Abstract

This study checks how the Gospel can work as a practical tool for handling insecurity in Nigeria, with a special focus on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. The paper basically claims that insecurity in Abuja should not be seen only through military and political lenses because the reasons for violence are often linked to unemployment, corruption, social exclusion, moral decline and even institutions that are already too fragile. It uses a qualitative hermeneutical theological approach, so the work reads the biblical instruction on justice, peace, reconciliation and human dignity alongside the everyday socio-economic situation of insecurity in Abuja. It also draws from peer-reviewed work in African Christianity, public theology and peacebuilding. It tries to keep a close ear on what is going on in nearby satellite areas like Kubwa, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Nyanya, Kuje, and Lugbe, all those places seem to mirror the same pressures in different local forms. From the findings, Churches have quite a lot of potential to help with peacebuilding, especially through youth empowerment, advocacy, counseling, interfaith dialogue, moral re orientation, and community building. Furthermore, prosperity focused theology, the splitting up of Church structures, and low social involvement often slows down the impact of many Churches. The study concludes that long lasting peace in Abuja needs cooperation between religious institutions, government bodies, and civil society organizations. The Gospel, in the end, is both spiritual and social force, able to push justice, reconciliation, and broader national stability.

Keywords: Faith based intervention, Gospel, Insecurity, Public Theology, Shalom
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