The North has criticised the National
President, Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, for
faulting a ceasefire deal between the Federal Government and the
Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
The apex body of the North, Arewa
Consultative Forum, on Friday warned Oritsejafor not to instigate the
public to scuttle peace moves in the region.
The Chairman, Presidential Committee on
Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North,
Mr. Kabiru Turaki (SAN), had last Monday announced a ceasefire deal
between the government and the sect.
But on Wednesday at the ninth National Assembly of CAN where he was re-elected, Oritsejafor dismissed the ceasefire deal.
He noted that Boko Haram could not be
taken seriously because the group had been factionalised, because there
were two groups –the Shekau group and the Ansaru group.
“Even if one person says ‘I want peace
and I drop my weapons. I will still ask, ‘Which Boko Haram?’ We have
seen situations in the past, where they told us that some people wanted
truce and the next day we saw people being killed,” the CAN President
said.
The National Publicity Secretary, ACF,
Mr. Anthony Sani, in an interview with our correspondent, however, said
starting dialogue with a faction of the sect could lead other reluctant
members embracing it.
He also said, “CAN President is expected
to encourage this government, instead of creating doubt in the minds of
both the government and Nigerians. That is unhelpful. This is because
it is not possible for all the members of the sect to agree with
dialogue – all at the same time. The extremist ones among them will
always oppose dialogue.”
The ACF spokesman urged Nigerians to
support the moves by the Federal Government, saying security issues
should be approached in bipartisan manner.
While Sani admitted the possibility of a
reprisal by members of Boko Haram over the life sentence passed on five
members of the sect by a court recently, he said it was because the
terms of dialogue had yet to be discussed.
He also said government’s moves for
dialogue could run concurrently with the state of emergency in Borno,
Yobe and Adamawa states.
Sani noted that the emergency rule was
only to enable the government to reclaim Nigerian territories seized by
the sect and not to preclude dialogue.
“ACF believes as soon as the territories have been fully reclaimed, dialogue will take the centre stage.
“With such assurance from the government
that it has the capacity and capability to execute strategy of stick
and carrot, it would be unpatriotic for anybody to doubt the possibility
of the reported ceasefire,” Sani added.
He added that Orisejafor should allow those concerned with the affairs of security in the region to make comments.
“He (Oritsejafor) has been making very
incendiary statements; he’s been accusing people left, right and centre.
I don’t believe in his kind of religious leadership. He is not a
Muslim; he is not a member of Boko Haram and he has no business
commenting on the leadership structure of the sect.
“He doesn’t know the working structure of government. He has never worked in government.”
On his part, the National Coordinator,
Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professional and
Businessmen, Dr. JunaidMohammed, however, expressed his doubt over the
ceasefire deal.
“Do you believe any ceasefire deal was signed?” he asked our correspondent.
He alleged that Turaki was only playing to the gallery with the ceasefire deal to win the favour of the Presidency.
“If you want to sign any deal with
anybody, you must identify the bona fides. You can call your friend to
come and sign a deal with you but how are you sure he’s the de facto
leader? Boko Haram is not just a terrorist’ organisation, it is also an
underground organisation. You must know the structure of any
organisation before you can confirm that you’re dealing with the bona
fide leader.”
On the prosecution of five members of
the sect, he said nobody was above the law, adding that Nigerian justice
system should be scrapped if it dreads prosecuting criminals.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
So called pastor "turned politician" u ve not commented on the crisis sponsored by your political leader in Aso Rock, abi the mayhem is normal in your eyes? God is watching all of us.
ReplyDeleteACF! has BH not proved this CAN man right. The leader of BH has come out to say "no cease fire"
ReplyDeleteACF shld also tell their MUMU, ILLITRATE ALPHAS, IMAMS, & others from DELIVERING HATEFUL LECTURES abt CHRISTIANITY to their LARGELY ILLITERATE & GULLIBLE AUDIENCE. I schooled in the NORTH, so I know what I"m SAYING.
MUMU ACF. RUBBISH!
EL-MATOSKY.
Starting point is the body of the report does not agree with the head line. Each of them expreesed opinions, no one warned the other. Secondly, why is it that when a man talks from the north his is NORTH, the man from the south has a name? Why can't this article be "Sani Disagrees with Oritsejafor"?
ReplyDeleteI av said it b4 and i wil stil say again....papa Ayo your children ar fully behind u....bcos u ar saying truth....nothing but d truth
ReplyDeleteTruth will always discomfort lies. Someone speaking the truth about the realty we all can see on ground and all you do is label him as inciting nigerians. ACF is winking in the dark, CAN keep beaming your light so we can see the truth.
ReplyDelete