Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has stated that
President Muhammadu Buhari has not departed from the commitment and promise he
made to religious leaders to be fair and just to all Nigerians regardless of
religious faith and belief.
The vice president made this known in his speech on
Wednesday at a stakeholders’ meeting in Makurdi.
Osibanjo, while absolving the president of
complicity in the perennial killings of Christians perpetrated by herdsmen in
Benue State, said as a Christian, he will not hesitated to quit his position if
truly there was an agenda of ethnic and religious cleansing
According to Osinbajo, "I am also not a
politician. As a matter of fact, I'm also a priest and I'm a Christian, a born
again Christian. Because I'm a born again Christian, my destiny is not
determined by any man but by God who I serve. Let me assure you that under no
circumstance, whatsoever will I give up my faith or refuse to stand up for my
faith. You can take that to the bank. Even the position that I currently
occupy, I did not ask for it and I'm prepared to leave it at a short notice. It
doesn't mean anything. I became a born again Christian after I became a professor
of the law of evidence, a professor of proof.
“But when the Lord Jesus Christ
met me, He persuaded me by showing me clearly that there is such a thing as the
evidence of faith that are not seen. It is because of the evidence of things
that are not seen, it is because you can make something out of nothing that I
stand here today as Vice President. How possible can anyone say that the
killing of women and children doesn't matter because he is vice president or
because he is president? How is that possible? Certainly, it cannot be for a
person who is a born again. A renewed mind will know that there is justice,
there is consequence even if there is no justice here on earth."
He said the federal government has marshaled out
plans for the state that would bring reliefs to the victims of the crises
According to him, "The first issue of course is
one of security and that is why we have definitely now beefed up security and
I'm sure if you heard some of the comments that were made and especially the governor,
you would notice that a lot has been done with respect to security especially
in the past couple of weeks, and we must continue to ensure that security is
first priority; second issue of course is to ensure that those in IDP camps
return to their homes. Many of their homes have been destroyed, including farmlands
too."
He said the crisis is a major problem that did not
start with the present government and must be studied carefully before any
suggestion of an agenda.
Earlier at the meeting, while speaking, Catholic
Bishop of Gboko Diocese, William Avenya, alleged that there are attempt to islamism
the country.
He called on the vice president to stand up for
Christians who are the worst hit over the killings.
"Vice President, you are a Christian. When you
once met us, we spoke to you at Gwarimpa. We called you friend, you called us
friend. When Buhari came to campaign and request of us to appeal to our people
to vote for him, he pointed at you and said "here is a Christian, my Vice
President, here is one of our sons...
Akume was with you, another Christian; Audu Ogbeh,
another Christian was there. How can he turn this country into an Islamic
territory? The point I'm trying to make is that a day is going to come when you
as Vice President, the injustices in our land, especially those perpetrated on
smaller tribes that have no one to fight for them; when the issues and the
records are raised, you too will bear the brunt of that problem. So, as a
Christian, exonerate yourself from this situation...
I plead with you to be a Christian and a committed
Christian, somebody who understands the law and one who speaks for justice.
This is the way to conciliation and peace in our land. Let us stop this
political thing that means practically nothing. Let us speak the truth. We
thank you for coming. At least we are telling you face to face. I hope you hear
us and I hope you will not diplomatize or politicize and swing these thing?” He
asked.
He appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari for the
deployment of combined special security forces to contain the attacks on Benue
communities by militia herdsmen, expressing the hope that the visit of the vice
president would restore peace in the state.
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