The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, has called for unity and collective fight against insecurity around the country as, according to him, dark forces were contending for the soul of the country.
Boss Mustapha, who spoke in the Adamawa State capital, Yola, on Friday in the course of a condolence visit to the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) over the killings of two prominent members last week, said it was unfortunate that such killings should occur and set back efforts of the federal government to boost security.
“Several years ago, we started with Boko Haram in the Northeast. As we were making tremendous progress against Boko Haram, issue of armed banditry started in the Northwest. Then we faced intense herder/farmers clashes in the North Central. And of course kidnapping, which was alien to us not far back, became a huge concern across the country
“So, you can see that the security challenges confronting us as a nation is multi-headed. You deal with one, another erupts. There is a contention for the soul of our country.
“This is why a collective resolve of all of us as a people is very important to be able to deal with the situation,” the SGF said during a question and answer session with newsmen.
Earlier at the Conference Hall of the new CAN Secretariat in Jimeta where he was received by the state CAN leadership, the SGF had said Nigerians needed to be united in prayer because “unless God watches over us, we watch in vain.”
Boss Mustapha, who said he was in the state on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari to see the CAN leadership over the killings last week of the Michika CAN Chairman, Rev Lawan Andimi; and a pastor of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN), Rev Denis Bagauri, said the killings were most unfortunate.
“It is painful that we should have such killings which have set us back,” he said, telling the CAN leadership that the government would make every effort to avoid a repeat.
The Adamawa State Chairman of CAN, Bishop Stephen Mamza who led other executives of the association to receive the SGF and his entourage, said CAN was pleased with the visit and assurance from the SGF that President Buhari shared in their grief and was determined to do more to enhance security.
The CAN leadership called for collective resolve of people of both Christianity and Islam to fight agents of discord.
Recalling that the Michika CAN chairman was killed by Boko Haram insurgents who profess Islam, the CAN chairman said, “We are confronted with a few people who claim that they are fighting for their religion. We know this to be untrue and we must resist this ploy to set Christians and Muslims against one another.”
