CAN, again, opposes death sentence on Fulani herdsman’s killers, says they are Christians

In what looks like deliberate effort to work against the law of the land over issue of killings in the country, except it is not to the disfavour of Christians, the President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Samson Ayokunle, has called on the Federal Government to caution the Adamawa State Government against hasty implementation of the death sentence passed on five murderers of a Fulani herdsman who was killed and thrown into a river in 2017 but now taken to justice, saying they are Christian youths.

The CAN Leader, it will be recalled, has led the many misrepresentations leading to many of the escalated crisis that the nation has witnessed especially the CAN, it was, that told the world how killers in parts of the country were Fulani herdsmen, which was bought from him by the media who aired many voices demanding that President Muhammadu Buhari declare an entire tribe of Fulani in the country, whose core of trade is herdsmanship, as terrorist group.

It is however a surprise to many observers of unfolding events that the same CAN President would not be comfortable discovering not only that many of the killers arrested so far are neither Fulani, Yoruba, Igbo, Muslim nor Christian but strictly criminals that must be treated as what they are.

More of a surprise is that instead of resting his case and allowing the law, which has taken its place over the matter, to be, Rev. Ayokunle has called on President to wade in, ensuring that the judgment of Yola, Adamawa’s court on the five criminals does not stand.

Ayokunle made the call in a statement signed by his Special Assistant, Media and Communications, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, in Abuja, on Tuesday.

He said the five convicts were alleged to have on June 1, 2017, “willfully and intentionally conspired and attacked three herdsmen rearing cattle at Kadamun village in Demsa Local Government Area.”

He said that the convicts killed one of the herdsmen, Adamu Buba, whose body was thrown into a river and maimed several cows.

He said Justice Abdul-Azeez Waziri of a High Court in the state recently sentenced the convicts to death for culpable homicide.

“The names of the convicts are Alex Amos, Alheri Phanuel, Holy Boniface, Jerry Gideon and Jari Sabagi.”

Ayokunle said, “CAN is not supporting jungle justice or any criminality. But hundreds of our members in Southern Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, Plateau states in the North-Central geo-political zones, and a state like Enugu in the South, have been killed,” he said.

The CAN leader spoke just as an Abuja-based Fulani and Muslim who spoke to The DEFENDER in confidence wondered in his reaction that, “If this religious leader is telling us that because hundreds of his religion’s members have been killed in Southern Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, Plateau, Enugu and the rest of them, he should be ignored on his latest call because, those who killed 700 of our men, their defenceless women and innocent children on the Mambila Plateau are not Muslims yet we never came out to tag the massacre on Christians.

“So, it is an act of divisiveness for a religious leader of Ayokunle’s stature to talk the way he talks because, he cannot establish that those killed in the gunmen attacks by terrorists he is tagging on herdsmen and Muslims were killed because of their religion.  If he is saying so, who then would he blamed for the killing on daily basis of people of some Zamfara State villages?  Who will be blamed for the killing of Christians in Rivers State the same night those it continues to celebrate as killed in Benue were killed?

“Truth is, Rev. Ayokunle is biased and a non-patriotic religious leader because he should know that the Christian community of Nigeria and, largely, the Nigerian society deserve more positive effort from his leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) than he is doing.  Continuing this way, he is only exposing himself and his association to ridicule as a body that has no concern for the good of humanity except they are Christians, which makes them worse than the evils they are wrongly tagging on Fulani and Muslims.”

He went on, “They are just talking as if there are no Muslims in this country who can tell lies to advance their course against the Christians.  But you will never see any Muslim do that.  Why?  For the singular reason that there is no basis for lying to hurt Christians in the religion of Islam.  If you look at the Qur’an and history of Islam very well, you will know that Islam establishes that Christians, of all the faiths in the world, are the nearest to Muslims in faith and so they have been commanded to show priority to supporting Christians to achieve success in anything they do in life as it can be seen in the history of Persian and Roman Empires when Prophet Muhammad (SAW) ordered the Muslim Army to support the Roman Army (Christians) against Persian Army (fire worshippers) in time of wars.

“That is why you do not see our Leader, Sultan of Sokoto and Sarkin Musulumi of Nigeria, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, getting agitated whenever the many offensives by this Christian body are launched against Muslims even when the issue at stake does not concern Muslims.  CAN has so much bastardised itself that even it failed to agitate when Christian and Southern President’s failure lead to abduction of Christian girl students of Chibok School but now has been threatening religious war that it cannot prosecute because the man at the helms of affairs is a Muslim and Northerner.

“It is as a result of this badbellying way of life against the Muslim and Northerner in power that CAN by itself created problem for the only Christian girl among the Dapchi schoolgirls abducted recently, when at the point of release of the 110 girls being negotiated by the Muslim and Northerner CAN hates so much, Buhari, they went to press and started celebrating the little Leah Sharibu as Christian hero for defeating Boko Haram who tried to make revert from Christianity to Islam.  It was now because Boko Haram held the girl back possibly because of the activity of CAN that these Christian leaders recently threatened religious war should the girl die in her abducts captivity.  Who is doing who?

“At the end of the day, the Nigerian Muslim Community that this CAN has so much frustrated, under Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar, is now the one intervening in the Leah Sharibu’s issue when it became clear that CAN that aggravated her problem could not help her,” he said warning the religious association to desist.

In the call by CAN on Tuesday, it for the first time admitted there are some criminals but who parade themselves as Fulani herdsmen but still, Rev. Samson Ayokunle, a Ph.D holder, cannot come to term with aims of terrorists to cause civil or religious war in Nigeria by fueling inter-ethnic, inter-religious conflicts in the land.

He went on to authenticate the recent twist of even America’s President Donald Trump’s statement that said the killing of Christians and Muslims in Nigeria was unacceptable, still making it look like Trump, who during the just concluded Ramadan fasting, demonstrated his clear mind with Muslims of the world, is backing the Christian Association’s offensives against Muslims in Nigeria.

“Some criminals parading themselves as Fulani herdsmen are still killing our members on a daily basis, but are yet to be apprehended.

“Citizens stood helpless at the massacre of their peaceful fellow Nigerians, the international community watched in anguish how government security agencies could not bring perpetrators of these heinous killings to book.

“Donald Trump, President of U.S. had expressed sadness over killings of Christians in Nigeria.

“The U.S president even told President Muhammadu Buhari when he recently visited the White House in Washington, DC, that the U.S. will no longer tolerate a situation where Christians were being killed with impunity.”

Ayokunle, however, said despite the outrage that has trailed the killings of Christians in Nigeria, it was disheartening that none of the killers had been brought to justice.

“We are shocked at the speed of light deployed by security and judicial officers in sentencing the alleged killers of the herdsman in Adamawa State.

“Why did the court discharge the alleged killers of Madam Bridget Agbahime on the orders of the Kano State government?

“Why have security officials not arrested those behind the killings of Christians in Southern Kaduna? Why did Nigeria police set free those arrested for the murder of Mrs. Eunice Elisha Olawale in Kubwa, Abuja.

“In view of this, CAN is calling on President Buhari to intervene in the death sentence passed on these Christian youths in Adamawa,” he said.

Ayokunle said CAN has directed its legal team to secure and study the text of the judgment with a view to preventing a miscarriage of justice and a future reoccurrence.

In a related development, he said CAN was visibly disturbed at reports that the Federal Government has allegedly directed the Nigerian army and police to recruit some former members of Boko Haram terrorists who recently underwent deradicalisation programme.

“If it is true, CAN condemns such a policy in strong terms and ask the Federal Government, especially security agencies, to withdraw such directive which is capable of compromising the nation’s security system,” he said.