The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Wednesday asked
the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasiru El-rufai, to desist from any unwarranted
threat against Christian pastors.
In a statement issued by the Special Assistant
(Media and Communications) to CAN President, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, the
organisation said any attempt to arrest or harass any pastor again will be
considered as an attempt to silence the voice of the Church and reasoning in Nigeria.
CAN was reacting to an alleged threat issued by El-rufai
to arrest the Founder and Senior Pastor of Dunamis International Gospel Centre,
Dr. Paul Enenche, for his comment on the killings of Christians.
"Our attention has been drawn to a threat
issued by El-rufai in some online news media over his determination to get the
Founder and Senior Pastor of Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Enenche, arraigned
in Kaduna over ‘hate speech’ that he allegedly claimed escalated recent
killings that rocked Kasuwan Magani on October 18, 2018, that was followed by
the assassination of the Agom Adara, Dr Maiwada Raphael Galadima, on October
26, 2018," the religious group said.
In the statement, CAN said while it abhors hate speech in whatever form, "it
is becoming very difficult to determine what constitutes hate speech and who
should be responsible for assessing what constitutes a hate speech.”
CAN said after a careful study of the statement made by the
pastor as well as the circumstances behind it, the organisation said it was
convinced that Pastor Enenche made no
offending speech.
The statement said while CAN condemns hate speech by
religious leaders and other Nigerians, “it cannot stand and watch our respected
leaders being set up for molestation, humiliation and prosecution for an
unfounded hate speech.
"It has become much difficult to know whose
speech is to be regarded as hate speech and which speech should not.
We have carefully read the threat by El-rufai and his
claim to know who is responsible for the hate speech that promoted the crises
in Kaduna State and his vow to get Pastor Enenche arrested and prosecuted in
the state.
"We have also examined the video clip of the pastor,
and are abreast of all the facts concerning the Kasuwan Magani killings among
others. The main subject of Enenche’s clip which El-Rufai is alleging to be a
hate speech to us is an outright condemnation of the fate that has befallen the
Adara people and Christians in Southern Kaduna through the creation of new
emirates namely: Lere, Kagarko and Kujuru. By the creation of these emirates,
especially that of Kajuru, the Adara people have been subjugated.”
CAN said rather than threaten pastors and individuals
who lament the killings in Kaduna, the governor should make efforts to arrest
those responsible for the heinous crime.
The association said: "The questions in the
minds of the church are: why is it very easy for the state government to identify
those lamenting the unabated killings of Christians in Kaduna and other states
in the middle belt for persecution? Why is it easy for the government to seek
to apprehend and prosecute the crying victims but it’s almost an impossible
task to bring the killers to justice?
"Why is it easier for the El-Rufai government to
know and get “the agents of careless statement... but expensive and almost
impossible for him to identify the Kaduna killing agents despite years of such
continuous killings? Have the killers of
Agom Adara, Dr. Maiwada Raphael Galadima, been apprehended? How long will it
take the El-Rufai to apprehend them?"
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