There is obviously no moral justification for the beastly behaviour resulting in the destruction of lives and properties by suspected Fulani herdsmen in the country, including the Tuesday’s attack in a Catholic Church, St. Ignatius Quasi Parish, Ukpor Mbalom, Ayar Mbalom village, Gwer East Local Government Area in Benue State where two priests and about 17 worshipers were killed during an early morning burial mass. As if Tuesday’s death was not enough permanent pain, the merchants from hell yet attacked last Thursday another community in the state, Logo Local Government Area, with at least seven persons killed, reportedly culminating into the death of 70 persons since the night of last Sunday when the attacks started in the week.
Christian analysts have described the ongoing killings and the inability of the Federal Government to protect defenseless citizens coupled with its condemnation of the calls for self-defense as inciting to the breakdown of law, as the play out of a script which is consciously aimed at persecuting Christians. They have also insinuated that if the killings continue then a religious war may be inevitable.
The Catholic Bishops in Nigeria, who said they were in Rome on an official visit to the Pope, issued a statement on Thursday where they told President Muhammadu Buhari to consider stepping aside to save the nation from total collapse, since he has not been able to stem the tide but allowed the increase of brutality and bloodletting in the nation, even after they paid him a visit on February 8th to air their dissatisfaction and that of other concerned Nigerians on the state of insecurity in the country.
“We are sad. We are angry. We feel totally exposed and most vulnerable. Faced with these dark clouds of fear and anxiety, our people are daily being told by some to defend themselves. But defend themselves with what?
“The Federal Government, whose primary responsibility it is to protect lives, for its part alleges that those who ask the people to defend themselves are inciting them to take the laws into their own hands. But how can the Federal Government stand back while its security agencies deliberately turn a blind eye to the cries and wailings of helpless and harmless citizens who remain sitting ducks in their homes, farms, highway and now, even in sacred places of worship?
“…Now our churches have been desecrated and our people murdered on the altars. As leaders we have consistently asked our people to remain peaceful and law abiding, even in the face of the worst form of provocation. Today we Christians feel violated and betrayed in a nation that we all continued to sacrifice and pray for we collectively feel abandoned and betrayed,” the statement from the Bishops partly states.
Meanwhile Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday in Lagos, during the inauguration service of the Deeper Life Bible Church told the congregation that he received the news of the gruesome Benue killings on his way to Lagos. He hinted that the president has given him the go ahead to tackle religious persecution in Nigeria in order to give room for religious freedom as none (Muslims, Christians and those of other faiths) has the right to infringe on the right of others to worship. Speaking in the capacity of a Pastor that he is, he unapologetically made it clear that no man born or unborn can stop the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Osinbajo urged the Christian community to continue in prayers and do not succumb to preaching hate but spread love in the face of the persecutions. Taking the position of the Biblical Esther, wife of King Ahaserus who saved the Jew (Christians), he called for support from the brethren, as he pledged to stand in the gap in putting asunder the enemies’ ploy. Even as he further revealed that governance is more of spiritual warfare.
“The President has mandated that I take up those cases in specific states and local authorities. The right to freedom of worship is also a right to build places of worship. Second is the physical persecution of Christians, a phenomenon we have seen for years. Just this morning on my way here, I was notified of the violation of a Catholic Church in Benue State by armed killers who went there while burial mass was taking place and they killed the priests and some worshippers.
“It’s not only a heinous sacrilege, but high wickedness to kill persons in a place of worship. As I discuss these issues with the President and other ministers in the security council, it’s evident to me and to many that the devil’s bigger agenda is to stoke up a religious conflict in Nigeria that will make it impossible for anyone to preach the gospel or even for Muslims to worship in their mosques.
“A few days ago in Bama, a mosque was burnt and many people died. Many such examples abound. While the security agencies continue to work relentlessly to hunt down the perpetrators of this evil acts, to bring a permanent end to all of the killings that are going on in the name of insurgents, herdsmen or any other name, we as a body of Christ must not lose focus.
“We are called to bring men and women to salvation—all men, even those who kill and persecute us. The enemy wants us to stand on our pulpits and preach hate, we will not! We will obey the Lord Jesus Christ who said we must love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Governance is spiritual warfare. I ask that you pray for every one of us who is in the position of authority in this land,” he stated.
For Msgr Gabriel Osu, Director of Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, in his statement ‘A Callous Attack on the Sacred,’ he bemoaned the loss of sanity by humans as they rejoice over taking the lives of fellwow humans.
“We all know how Operation Python dance was swiftly executed in the East. One wonders why the military cannot channel equal zeal to root out these callous killings? If, like the president recently said, they are foreigners, why not unleash all our military arsenals on them, coupled with swift intelligence gathering? Is it that the lives of Nigerians no longer matter? Is it that some bloods are more precious than the rest? Are we still sane in this clime? Where are we heading to? What hope for the future?”
Suggesting that Christians are being pushed to the wall, he warned that: “Let those in authority beware of a gathering storm. Things are not as they should be. You cannot expect people to fold their arms and watch all they hold sacred being wiped away. Yes, it is true that Christianity abhors violence, but when a people have been pushed to the wall, the only option left for them is to bounce back,”Osu added.
According to him, no one has any right to take the lives of others for no just reason and “turning blind eyes to the unwarranted killings across the country would not only exacerbate the already tensed situation, but may also pave way for something more unwholesome.”
He however called for immediate action by the security agencies to safeguard the lives and properties of Nigerians, particularly those living in the middle belt region. He added that the citizens must be reassured that there is no need for them to resort to self-help in order to stay alive.
On its part, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), following the killing of two Catholic Priests announced plan to embark on a peaceful protest and prayers against unending killings and freedom of Leah Sharibu and Chibok schools girls today being Sunday, April 29.
The statement signed by Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, Special Assistant on Media and Communications to the CAN President, Rev Samson Ayokunle, on Wednesday in Abuja, said that the protest is going to hold in every church’s premise to ask the Federal Government and the security agencies to stop the unending killings and bloodshed in the country.
Ayokunle reportedly directed Christians to carry placards today with inscriptions meant to address issues about sustained killings, attacks and destruction of their property in Nigeria.
Apostle David Jelmark, in an interview with SUNDAY INDEPENDENT decried the recurring deaths and alleged sentimental attachment in dealing with the terror group unleashing evil. He wondered how the citizens can defend themselves against the suspected herdsmen who go about with sophisticated weapons.
“I have said that before that there are sentiments attached to it. The major cabinet members to take that decision are Fulanis so who will vote against his people. The President is surrounded by sycophants that are telling him that Nigerians are clamouring to have him back while killings are going on in Benue, Plateau and other places. As I speak to you now in the villages in Plateau State, people are being killed. One of my cousins called me to say another cousin of mine was killed in the middle of the night. Are they telling us that when they come to kill we should take our phones to call the military?
“We have to defend ourselves because right now there are killings going on everyday and someone will sit in Aso Rock and tell me to wait for the army to defend me. I will defend myself else I’m gone before the army will arrive and the blood sucking humans going into the woods. The killing in the middle belt is massive and we have to stop this,” said Jelmark.
An Anglican cleric, Ven. Funso Awe, while condemning the persecution, appealed to Christians not to revenge but be longsuffering.
“As far as I am concerned I think we have had enough bloodshed, the Nigerian civil war and the situation surrounding it including coup was caused by people like him. I do not support such an idea where you ask people to take up arms against one another. I am not advocate of arms taking. Look you do not solve a problem by creating a situation of war.
“You will know the beginning but not the end. See what is happening in Syria. We should avoid every situation that will make us go to war. The solution entails having a roundtable conference and not for people to start killing one another further. The Bible admonishes us as Christians that if anyone slaps us on the right cheek, we should turn to him the other also. There is need for us to apply caution so as not to like Rwanda or Syria,” Awe told SUNDAY INDEPENDENT.
Sat Guru Maharaj Ji of the One Love Family, blamed the Northern elites for masterminding the Boko Haram sect which has gone berserk beyond their initial agenda. At a briefing last Tuesday to mark the 31st anniversary of the spiritual centre, in his address ‘Salvage Nigeria, Emancipate Africa, Let’s Re-Make The World’, he noted thus:
“It is the protracted opposition of Northern leaders to equity and fairness in the political management of Nigeria that bred and sustains blood-thirsty Boko Haram and the cold-blooded killings of non-Fulani Nigerians by so-called Fulani herdsmen across our blessed country.
“Truth is better, the political leaders of Northern Nigeria do not believe in Nigeria except it submits entirely to their Islamisation proclivity and that our collective political rights remain their exclusive property forever. Of course, they have told us over and over again that they are born to rule!
“…That God or Allah did not say you should kill your friend or neighbour for not believing in any religion created by man. The religion of God is Love so there is urgent need for you as a black man not to join the Europeans in that wasteful exercise…”
credit link: https://independent.ng/averting-impending-religious-war/
