From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
For taking up the task of caring for the abandoned people, the deformed, autism children and many others who cannot cater for themselves, a Catholic priest of the Nnewi Diocese, Rev. Fr. Anthony Ananwa has been decorated by the Crime Prevention Campaign of Nigeria (CPCN), a non-governmental registered security outfit committed to supporting and working with the Nigeria Police and other security agencies to ensure a crime-free society.
Rev. Fr. Ananwa is the founder and director, Jesus Abandoned Charity Home, Oraifite in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State.
Inside the charity home are people in different stages of deformities that cannot feed themselves unless they are spoon-fed by others.
The cleric apart from taking care of their medical, spiritual and feeding needs also runs a special school where the inmates are given special education.
Decorating the cleric as an Advocate of Crime Prevention with an award, the Director, CPCN, Anambra State chapter, Alponsus Chukwuemeka Madubueze, observed that the priest had done much in the services of God and humanity.
According to him, for a high profile priest to leave the comfort of his parish to stay with the disabled, the sick and the poor deserves commendations.
Madubueze who traced most of the crime in the society to lack of parental upbringing called on parents to be alive to their responsibilities in bringing up their wards, mostly by checking the friends they keep and their other activities.
“Crime prevention and control strategy cannot only be written in pages of newspapers or in talking only. A lot of measures have been spoken but not implemented in any way. If those in the national and state House Assemblies can use their constituency allowances allocated to them by the federal and state governments to build foundations and help the deformed, the less privileged and empower the youths as very Rev. Fr Anthony Ananwa is doing personally without government’s assistance, our towns, local government and states will be far much better, free from crime and criminalities. This is what we see as proper crime prevention and control strategy in action, we urge him not to relent and also call on other clerics to emulate him.
“We are here today to honour and decorate a clergyman who without minding his position, personal benefits as a reverend father chooses to change the life and livelihood of the less privileged, the poor, the deformed, the youths, support to NGOs. He runs a free education school as an individual without government backing, which is more than crime prevention and control strategy.”
The priest thanked the organization for the honour which he said would trigger him to do more.
He assured that he would not relent in the service of humanity which he said is a call he had.
The cleric called on the government, public-spirited individuals and corporate bodies to come to the aid of the home, noting that it has not been easy running and maintaining its affairs.