*We 'll stop killings in memory of the dead
Th northern chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Thursday in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to end protracted blood shed in Nigeria or force the country into anarchy and unpredictable future.
The group led by its Chairman, Revd. Yakubu Pam, also demanded for the overhaul of the country's security apparatus with a view to injecting fresh blood into the security architecture and end mindless killings.
The group, which was later joined in the meeting by Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, who was in the Villa for different reasons, also demanded the release of Leah Shaibu, who was one of the 110 girls abducted by Boko Haram earlier in the year but held back because of her refusal to renounce her Christian faith.
In the speech presented at the meeting on behalf of the group, Pam said the need to review the country's security architecture would not only generate a new lease of life but would also earn the required trust, confidence, and support of the citizenry.
"Mr. President, as the chief custodian of the security of our nation. We have come to you with tears on our faces because of the renewed attacks on innocent Nigerians especially in Northern Nigeria and particular Christians in the North of the country where hundreds of persons mostly children and women and the aged have been maimed and killed in night raids by armed herdsmen, a sad development which has compelled our cry to you in this visit in order for o call on you to deploy all at your disposal as a government to halt this senseless blood shedding and massive destruction of lives and property in the land, a situation which could lead to a state of anarchy leading to an unpredictable future," Pam said.
The Christian leaders also lamented the continuous abduction of underage Christian girls, their forced marriage and conversion to Islam without the consent of their parents, saying such act breed religious disharmony.
Rejecting claims that the violence was a clash between herders and farmers, Pam wondered how farmers who were cut down in their houses at night could be said to be clashing with the herders.
Describing the herdsmen's violence as ethnic and religious cleansing, they rejected land grabbing by the herdsmen and demanded for the reconstruction of communities razed by the killers.
Pam said: "We observe that the continuous abduction of under-aged Christian girls who are forcefully converted to Islamic religion and given out for marriage without the consent of their parents breeds religious disharmony.
“We, therefore, wish to state that the situation does not only violate the fundamental human rights of the girls but is also a call to anarchy if such actions were to get an even score by the Christian population. The appeal, therefore, is for your quick intervention to ensure that the numerous girls held under such circumstances are released to their parents.
“In the spirit of the above observation, we wish to demand that intensive and speedy actions should be taken for the release of girls in captivity, especially Leah Sharibu.”
The said the security architecture of the country should be re-visited to give it a new lease of life and responsiveness to earn the required trust, confidence, and support of the general populace.
“All communities ravaged by the herdsmen violence in the North should be rebuilt and adequate security be put in place to enable displaced persons to return to their homes and means of livelihood
“The Federal Government should roll out a robust advocacy programme to enlighten the nomadic herders on modern cattle rearing against open grazing and roaming across states and national boundaries," the group added.
The clergy men challenged the president to ensure that "all perpetrators including the so-called foreigners as alleged of these heinous crimes against humanity in parts of northern states should be arrested and prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others."
Responding, the president thanked CAN leaders for the visit, describing the killings in Benue, Zamfara Plateau as wicked, condemnable and completely unacceptable.
Buhari who said Nigerians are religious people, added that no religion or culture condones killings of people for any reason, saying "this is why we must all rise as one to condemn these vile and wicked acts to ensure that all the culprits are brought to justice."
He said in memory of Nigerians those whose lives were cut down since 1999 in Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba, Zamfara, the violence would be brought to an end.
The president added: "Let me make it clear that even a single life lost in any part of the country is one too many. I came to office vowing to ensure the protection of lives and property, and I remain committed to this despite the challenges we have experienced.
"I, therefore, seek your support as clerics and religious leaders to join hands with this administration and give us your full support. As you all know, deploying law enforcement agencies is fully our responsibility as a government while creating the platform and mechanisms for dialogue is a collective effort.
"The military and police have arrested hundreds of suspects across the various flash-points in the region and several prosecutions are going on. In a number of cases, we have seen convictions. Nigerians are right when they say they want to see more convictions and I would like to appeal to the judiciary to help us fast-track these cases."
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