CAN Urges Prosecution Of Those Behind Benue, Kaduna Killings
The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Olasupo Ayokunle, has lamented the recent killings in Southern Kaduna and Benue State, urging the Federal Government to prosecute those arrested over the killings.
The cleric who warned that failure to stop the unprovoked killings by suspected herdsmen in some parts of the country could spark war in the country, stressed that the already tensed situation in the state will be doused, when the suspects are made to face the wrath of the law.
Ayokunle, who is also the President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), stressed the need for the government to rise up to protect innocent Nigerians through effective security surveillance particularly at the nation’s borders to prevent illegal immigrants from gaining entry.
He made the call in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital at a special service held at First Baptist Church (Miracle Cathedral) where a book entitled: “The History of First Baptist Church, Ado Ekiti” was launched.
While charging members of the church and Christians in general to be more dedicated to work of evangelism and pr0pagation of the gospel he said: “We wouldn’t have had Boko Haram if we had evangelized well.”
In a sermon entitled: “Moving Forward, Exhibiting the Features of a Prevailing Church”, Ayokunle said the church has a duty to pray for Nigeria to overcome all its social, economic and political problems.
“There is need to pray more for Nigeria because it is only prayer that can save us. Let us continue to pray for the leadership of this country. But I want to urge the government to check the menace of the herdsmen in some parts of the country.
“We are calling on the Federal Government to prosecute the herdsmen arrested in connection with the recent killings in Benue and Southern Kaduna because this will ease tension in the two states.
“We also want the Federal Government to investigate through intelligence gathering those unpatriotic Nigerians supplying the herdsmen with weapons being used to perpetrate evil.
“If the government fails to stop the provocation of the Fulani (herdsmen), they should be prepared for war. No ethnic group has monopoly of violence and no ethnic group should be a monster to others.”