Christian Association
of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday urged the international community to
intervene in the Boko Haram crisis in Nigeria.
CAN President Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor
said with the recent upsurge in the activities of the sect in the North,
it has now declared a war on Christians.
He spoke as gunmen believed to be Boko Haram operatives in Kano killed two policemen. Two civilians were injured in the attack.
Last Sunday, some gunmen shot
indiscriminately at Christian worshippers in Jakano, Borno State,
killing five of them including their pastor.
Two days before the tragedy, two members
of the EYN Church in Kubruvu, Damboa Local Council Area, also in Borno
State were killed by gunmen.
Pastor Oritsejafor said the Boko Haram
sect was seeking to topple the constitutional order and enthrone the
Islamic code as the only law in the country. He said their moves must be
prevented to avoid crisis.
The CAN boss condemned what he described
as dastardly and barbaric acts and urged security agencies to enhance
their method of getting quality intelligence in the fight against Boko
Haram.
He pleaded with the international
community to intervene since, according to him, “The Federal Government
and governors of the affected areas are not competent to handle the
matter”.
A statement in Abuja by his Special
Assistant, Media and Public Affairs, Pastor Oritsejafor said: “I am
deeply worried by this pattern of onslaught on Christians in the
northern part of this country by the Boko Haram sect, a group that is
seeking to topple the present constitutional order and enthrone the
Islamic code as the only law in the country.
“With this trend where no other houses
of worship or persons of other faiths are being attacked and killed, it
is most uncharitable, devilish and mischievous for anybody to claim that
these killings have no religious undertone. These attacks on churches
and killings of Christians are a clear deliberate act aimed at
population cleansing, based on religion and ethnicity.
“My prayers go to the affected families.
I pray that God will give them the strength to bear the losses they
have suffered. I praise Christians in the northern part of Nigeria for
their resilience and urge them not to flee their ancestral homes on
account of their travails, but to trust in God, believing that there is
always the triumph of good over evil.
“I, on behalf of CAN, condemn the
dastardly and barbaric acts and call on all the security agencies in the
country to enhance their method of getting quality intelligence in
their fight against the Boko Haram sect members. I am uncomfortable with
the blanket of silence and inaction by the governors of the affected
states. I am calling on the governors of these states to, not only
condemn the killings of Christians going on in their states but to also
take proactive actions that would protect Christians.
“I call on all Amnesty, Human Rights,
Civil Society groups and, indeed, the International Community to take
interest in this matter of attempts to deplete the population of
Christians in Nigeria through the deployment of brutal and heinous means
and also to note the abuses on Christians. As rights and corrective
groups, it would be unjustifiable to turn their eyes away from what is
happening to Christians and their Churches in Nigeria. I, therefore,
call on the International Community to wade in and to find lasting
solutions to these crimes being committed against Christians in
Nigeria.”
An eyewitness account said the Kano
attack was carried out at a security checkpoint in Tinshama in Hotoro,
Nassarawa Local Government Area of Kano State.
Five members of the sect opened fire on
the police officers on duty. Two civilians, who were preparing for the
afternoon prayer at a road side, were hit by bullets.
Operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF) cordoned off the area.
Kano police spokesman Musa Majiya, who
confirmed the attack, said two policemen were killed and two civilians
hit by bullets in the gun battle that ensued. They are receiving
treatment in an undisclosed hospital in the city.
Majiya said the police are on the trail of some of the gunmen who escaped with bullet wounds.
He confirmed that the suspected
terrorists stormed the scene in tricycles, adding that the police and
JTF operatives were combing the area to arrest suspects.
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any person in kano will not make this type of comments. Boko haram is against everyone. xtains are integral part of northern Nigeria, they cannot be completely left out. if there is anything that can be done to protect everyone in the north is the best. for GOD 's sake are you saying Boko haram are all muslims,northerners or nigerians. If xtains are their tagets, then ask somebody in sabon gari, KANO where we have many big churches,vulnerable to attack than BUK hall attacked last time; are they touched? May GOD expose all those behind this menace. No foreign hands can help us than native hands. this is a plot to destroy north just because of ASO ROCK. that is why GEJ refuse to listen to OBJ whom they plot the menace together with. GOD is bigger than devil.
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