…seek global support against Christians’ killings in North
Churches in Abuja, Kaduna, Benue, Plateau and Osun States among others on Sunday defied state governments’ ban on rallies to protest the recent killing of Deborah Yakubu, a 200 Level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, by Muslim fundamentalists.
The protesters condemned jungle justice and sought global support against Christians’ killings in the North.
During the protest, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev Samson Ayokunle, sought justice for victims of religious intolerance across the country, including Samuel.
The PUNCH reports that the CAN had called for a nationwide protest over Samuel’s killing.
Joining a protest in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, and addressing journalists, the CAN President, on the sidelines in the premises of Oritamefa Baptist Church, Ibadan, said, “The reason we are here is to unanimously, as Christians, say no to jungle justice and wanton killing of the innocent as if Nigeria were the Banana Republic.
“We are saying that Nigeria is a law-guided society. And for everything, whether religious or not religious, the Constitution of Nigeria is supreme. The constitution must be brought to bear upon every conduct of all Nigerians.
“Henceforth, no religious group should be allowed to take laws into its own hands. There must be justice for those whose lives are unduly terminated and whose dreams are perished.”
Members of CAN Oyo State chapter also gathered at the association’s secretariat in Ibadan to register their displeasure about the killing.
Members of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Central Parish, after the Sunday service at the Wuse 2 area of Abuja, led by the Regional Pastor who refused to give his name to journalists, also protested with their mouths sealed with cello tape.
Another Pastor of the Church said the decision not to speak at the protest was an “order from above.”
There is compliance to the President of CAN’s order, urging church leaders to use placards and demonstrate within the premises of their local churches or CAN secretariats.
Members of the Plateau State chapter of CAN trooped out en masse around 3pm with placards at its secretariat along Jos-Abuja road under the rains, calling on the government to sto pextra-judicial killings in the country.
Also, Christians under the aegis of CAN gathered at the NKST Church premises at Idye, along Gboko road, Makurdi, to protest Deborah’s death.
The Benue State CAN chairman, Rev. Akpen Leva, said, ‘Enough is enough of the killing of Christians in Nigeria’, adding that Christians were not second-class citizens in Nigeria, and the church would no longer tolerate it.
The cleric wondered why some religious extremists’ arrests degenerated into the tension that led to the violent protest that destroyed worship centres in Sokoto and other parts of the country and insisted that Christians cannot continue to bury their loved ones in the name of religion.
In Osun State, CAN members held a peaceful protest at the association’s secretariat. Addressing the protesters, Osun CAN chairman, Bishop Amos Ogunrinde, declared that the killing of Deborah was barbaric and ungodly.
Similarly, members of the RCCG, Osun Province 10 in Osogbo, staged a protest in compliance with the directive of the RCCG leadership.
Speaking with The PUNCH during the protest, which was held at the Liberation Cathedral, Pastor Felix Afe-Johnson, said, “We do not support bloodshed and all manner of vices going on in the country. We will prevent reoccurrence when everyone keeps to his or her religion.”
Also in Kaduna, Christians gathered at the Evangelical Church of Winning All, Sabon-Tasha, to intercede for the country.
The state Vice-Chairman of CAN, Rev. Chris Annger, said, “We are here to first pray for the survival of those alive and let the world know that it’s not the best way to go by killing because we live in a country where there are rules as the constitution. As patriotic Nigerians, we have what is guiding us that has to be respected.”
Christians in Bayelsa State also staged a peaceful protest, under the auspices of CAN, as they marched from the St. Matthias Catholic Church in the Amarata area of Yenagoa to the Peace Park, opposite the Government House in the state capital.
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: [email protected]
