The Presidency has lauded the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for rising to its duty of sensitizing Nigerians to stand against the evil being wrecked on the country by bloodthirsty terrorists.
In a statement on Tuesday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the Presidency also observed that the protest march, as was carried out last Sunday, was in order and an exercise of a civic right.
The statement observed that all Nigerians, irrespective of religious inclination, must join the government to take actions that disapprove of the activities of the murderous terrorists, respect the rights others to hold their religious beliefs without harassment from anyone.
It emphasized President Muhammadu Buhari’s, as well as other members of his government’s belief, in the standard that all lives, irrespective of classes or affiliations, are sacred and must be protected.
“The actions of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in recent days represent the peaceful right of all Nigerians to protest and express their views on matters of religion, ethics, politics and society.
“The origination of their protests is the shocking, unacceptable death of Pastor Lawan Andimi at the hands of Boko Haram. The President feels their pain, and that of his family, for his loss.
“The President believes, as does every member of his administration, both Christian and Muslim in the words of CAN’s placards: ‘All life is sacred’.
“Whether you are Christian or Muslim, all Nigerians and their beliefs must be respected. The duty of all of us is to uphold the rights of others to worship according their faith – and to respect the rights of each other to do so freely in the spirit of brotherhood and respect – and without interference.
“This means, however, that we must stop false claims that only serve to divide one community against the other. There is no place in Nigeria for those who politicise religion. This is the President’s message to both Muslim and Christian communities alike.
“In the light of this, the CAN-inspired prayers and street enlightenment in our cities are much welcome as sensitizers to the need for ALL CITIZENS irrespective of faith, religion or language to accept their duty and role in law enforcement, to prevent crime in all its manifestations, be it corruption, theft, terrorism, banditry or kidnapping. Without citizen involvement, there is no miracle with which less than half-a-million policemen can effectively protect a population of 200 million.
“CAN is right to arouse popular consciousness to this duty to the state.
“One more thing is this: it is the added need for citizen-consciousness to stand up for nation. Nigerians, only Nigerians can defend their nation against these abhorrent killings and all sorts of crimes worrying us as a nation.
“From the prayers and advocacy by CAN, citizens need to take an important lesson, which is, that our people must rally around the flag. Together, they rise to defeat the enemy and defend the state. In Nigeria, some groups rally against the government instead of the enemy. This is not right. It has the effect of playing into the hands of the enemy of the state.
“We will not defeat the terrorists, nor speed the return for those citizens, young and old taken by them by division in our own ranks. To pull apart is to play into the hands of the terrorists: this is what they want,” the statement said.
Nonetheless, CAN said it is shocked over the claim by President Muhammadu Buhari that 90 per cent of those killed by Boko Haram are Muslims.
CAN, while challenging Buhari to produce evidence to back his claim, reminded the President that when Boko Haram started, it targeted mainly churches and Christian communities in the north.
CAN, reacting through the Special Assistant (Media and Communication) to the CAN President, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, said the Boko Haram leaders from inception had made their motive known, which is to attack Christians.
“We are shocked but not surprised that President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly claimed that Boko Haram was not primarily targeting Christians as Muslims form about 90 per cent of its victims.
“We have been hearing such claims, now that Mr. President has joined the camp came not as a surprise but we are shocked and disappointed. Those who are making that school of thought are revisionists who are trying in vain to dismiss the Christian persecutions in the country.
“The Boko Haram terrorists did not mince words on their goal, to make Nigeria an Islamic State and God will not allow that to become a reality.
“If you have those who claim that terrorists had killed more Muslims than Christians to produce evidence, they would say terrorists had attacked some markets in Maiduguri and over 90 per cent of those in the market were Muslims! We dare the government to list names of all the communities that the terrorists are attacking in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States and let us see how many of them were predominantly Muslim or Christian.