[Mhiz Rebecca]

THE Evangelical Church Winning All, ECWA has
expressed displeasure over what it terms the long
silence of President Muhammadu Buhari over
sectarian killings in Southern Kaduna as well as the
inability of the Kaduna State government to guarantee
safety and security of the Southern Kaduna people,
saying such deliberate actions are unhealthy for
national cohesion and peace.
The church equally demanded that the Kaduna State
governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai rise to his
responsibility of protecting the lives and property of
citizens which he swore to protect and flush out
Fulani herdsmen who forcefully took over farmlands
belonging to Southern Kaduna people.
The church’s president, Rev. Jeremiah Gado, at a
press briefing at the ECWA headquarters in Jos on
Friday, said it was necessary to cry out and let the
world know the injustices and pogrom being
committed against Christians in the North despite
efforts of the Church in providing education, sound
medical care and other benefits to the entire region
without discrimination.
According to Gado, besides the pogrom targeted at
Christian communities in the North, churches have
suffered “demolition, confiscation of property,
abduction, forceful marriage and conversion to Islam
of young Christian girls, discriminatory employment
against indigenous Christians” and the church has also
been “denied renewal of expired land titles in many
northern states with threats by the Government to
recover the land which the Church has occupied for
over 60 years.”
He added: “From November, 2015 alone, about 6,000
people including women and children have been killed
in the area, nearly 10,000 people displaced and it is
surprising that in the 21st century, not only are the
Muslim Fulani militia carrying out modern day Jihad to
force non-Muslims out of their ancestral land under
the watch of democratically elected leaders, but are
being supported with discriminatory policies to acquire
land from the poor Christian farmers as grazing
reserves for the exclusive use of the Fulanis.”
Similarly, the Fellowship of Churches of Christ in
Nigeria known in Hausa language as Tarayyar
Ekkkisiyoyin Kristi a Nijeria (TEKAN) has raised concern
over the deliberate refusal of relevant authority to
grant Christian children admission to study
professional courses in federal tertiary institutions in
the North, saying such does not augur well for the
unity of the nation.
TEKAN, a body made up of 15 denomination churches,
in a communique issued at the end of a 62nd session
of its General Assembly and signed by its president,
Rev. Emmanuel Dziggau and General Secretary, Rev.
Moses Ebuga also condemned the appointment of
Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, the General Secretary of Supreme
Council for Islamic Affairs as the Executive Secretary
of JAMB as well as the prohibition of teaching of
Christian Religious Knowledge, CRK in some schools
in the country.
According to the communique, “The Assembly
expressed great concern about admission into Federal
tertiary institutions in the North which are denying
Christian children placement into some professional
courses like Law, Medicine, Engineering, Architecture
and Pharmacy which is against the citizenship rights.
“We also condemn the appointment of Prof. Ishaq
Oloyede, the General Secretary of Supreme Council for
Islamic Affairs as the Executive Secretary of JAMB
having regard to his track records at the University of
Ilorin. We condemn the prohibition of teaching of
Christian Religious Knowledge, CRK in some Nigerian
schools.”
The General Assembly of TEKAN also called on the
Federal Government to “ensure that the constitutional
rights of the citizens as regards to freedom of
worship, freedom to life and acquire landed properties
in any state of a citizen’s choice is guaranteed” even
as its condemns the denial of issuance of C of O for
erection of church buildings by some state
governments in the North and the recent demolition of
two churches in Jigawa State.”
While commending President Muhammadu Buhari in
his effort in fighting Boko Haram in the North East,
the Assembly urged him to replicate same in Southern
Kaduna and the entire Middle Belt of Nigeria as the
intractable Fulani herdsmen-farmers challenge faced in
the areas is causing much sorrow and pains in the
nation.