FOLLOWING the new wave of insecurity in Nigeria, the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, on Sunday February 2, staged protest across the country. The CAN called on the international community to wade into the plight of Christians in Nigeria as they intervened in cases of Syria, Iraq and other nations of the world where killings and human rights’ violations were rife.
Reverend Supo Ayokunle, president, CAN, who led the protest in Ibadan, said the attacks were targeted at Christians. He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to rise up to his responsibility of protecting Nigerians, irrespective of their religions.
“My message, first of all to the Nigerian government, is to urge the administration to up their game on the issue of security. They said they were trying, but their best is not the best because daily, bloodshed is happening. We cannot be playing politics with the lives of men and women. They have the right to live, and when they are dying we cannot keep quiet.
“Our President should rise up and up his game. If the attack is not religious don’t let there be attacks on Christians again. The killing of the young man going to Maiduguri is still fresh in our minds. When they were killing him, they said it in Hausa or Arabic that it was because he was a Christian.
“The killing of the CAN chairman was because he was a Christian; they rejected ransom. The incarceration of Leah Shuaribu was because she is a Christian and she refused to convert to Islam. Boko Haram didn’t mince words; Abubakar said he was out to plant Sharia from the North to the South. So why are you saying it is not religious? Nigerians be hopeful; your God will fight for you,” he said.
Also, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer, Redeemed Christian Church of God, on Sunday led a protest against insecurity and killings in Nigeria. Adeboye, at the end of the church’s monthly thanksgiving service at its national headquarters in Ebute Meta, Lagos State, led the protest from Ebute Meta through Atan Cemetery in Yaba and back.
Prior to the walk, Adeboye led his congregation in prayers for the peace and security of the country saying, “Lord, have mercy on Nigeria. Let there be peace and security in Nigeria. We pray that God send His light to Nigeria and expose the evildoers in the country.”
Adeboye, who had instructed all members of his church across Nigeria to embark on the protest, said, “The prayer walk is aimed at offering prayers and supplications unto God to save Nigeria from being consumed by insurgents, terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers, militants and ritualists in all our states.”
In Lagos, Apostle Alexander Bamgbola, state chairman, CAN, condemned the killing of Christians, saying the church could not continue to be silent. He called on the leadership of the country to swiftly put a stop to the attacks on innocent Nigerians all over the country.
“We need to tell the leadership of Nigeria that Christians are no longer comfortable with the killings of our brethren. Enough is enough of the killing of Christians in Nigeria; we can no longer keep calm. Evil has taken over the land with great bloodshed; Nigeria is becoming a reproach and Christians are being persecuted with immense reproach,” he said.
In Benue, the state chapter of CAN held prayer session and later protested in Makurdi, the state capital. Reverend Akpe Leva, state chairman, CAN, who led the protest, drew the attention of government to the rising spate of killings across the country.
He said there were so many killings and kidnappings in the country noting that Nigerians were conducting mass burials than marriages which he said was unhealthy to the nation. “The gruesome killing of the CAN Chairman in the Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Lawan Andimi, by Boko Haram terrorists is worrisome. There are killings in Southern Kaduna, Benue, Plateau and Taraba states, Adamawa among others,” he said.
In Taraba State, Isaiah Jirapye, chairman of CAN, urged the federal government to send all herdsmen brought to Nigeria from other African countries back to their countries.
Likewise, CAN in the 17 southern states on Sunday also condemned the unabated shedding of blood of Christians in Nigeria, saying that it was no longer acceptable to the Christian community. Joseph Ajujungwa, secretary of the group, expressed optimism that God would intervene and change the heart of Nigerian leaders.
The CAN had on Thursday, January 30 directed Christians to begin a three-day prayer and fasting to save Nigeria and Christians in particular from being consumed by insurgents, Islamic terrorists, bandits and kidnappers.
It also directed that there should be prayer walk around the locality of each church with Christians pronouncing ‘Jesus, the Prince of Peace as Lord’ and displaying placards with the inscription, ‘No to further killings.’
This prayer walk was a result of recent killings of Christians like Lawan Andimi, chairman, CAN in Michika local government area of Adamawa state; Nnadi Michael, a seminarian at Good Shepherd Major Seminary, Kaduna and Ropvill Daciya Dalep, student of University of Maiduguri, Borno State.
