Protect Christians from Boko Haram - CAN tells Buhari - Qubes Magazine

Christians in the North have asked the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to protect Christians from the rampaging Boko Haram insurgents and bandits.

The Christians, under the aegis of Christian Association of Nigeria, Northern chapter, made the call in reaction to the statement by the Federal Government that the insurgents were targeting Christians to stir up a religious war in the country.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday said insurgents had decided to be targeting Christians and Christian communities.

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This, the Minister had said, was to trigger a religious war and throw the nation into chaos.

Northern CAN said the statement should be considered a wake-up call for the Federal Government.

A statement by the Vice Chairman of the Northern CAN, Rev. Joseph Hayab, released in Kaduna on Friday, read, “Since the truth can only be delayed but not denied, the Federal Government of Nigeria should use the public admittance by its Minister of Information and Culture that Boko Haram and other killer groups in Nigeria truly are targeting Christians to stir up a religious war, to fashion out ways that Christians, their leaders, and places of worship will be protected.

“The government at this point should also seek to engage critical stakeholders to discuss possible ways of uniting the country to defeat the common enemy, in this case, Boko Haram and the kidnappers that have made our roads and homes unsafe.

“Accordingly, the government should direct her care-free spokespersons, both at federal and state levels, to mind how they respond to people or groups that have legitimate complaints about the safety of their members.”

CAN, in the statement titled, “The Beginning of the End of Denial,” said they were delighted with the latest revelations made by the government.

“The Christian Association of Nigeria in the 19 northern states and the FCT is happy to hear that, at last, some truths are coming out from the theatre of denial that we have seen displayed by the Nigerian government over the past years.

“Every honest and right-thinking Nigerian and non-Nigerian alike following the deadly killings in Nigeria must have recognised that Boko Haram and other killers groups have been targeting Christians for reasons only known to them.

“Our cry has never been to discredit anyone or the government but the focus has been that those in power should admit the truth about what is happening to Christians in Nigeria, not as a sign of failure but an honest way to finding a workable lasting solution to the evil ongoing in our land,” the statement added. Punch