(Intersociety
Xmas Day Message, Onitsha Nigeria, 25th December 2016)-As tens of millions of
Nigerian Christians all over the country and beyond its borders celebrate the
“canonical” birth of Jesus Christ and the Christian Religion with biblical
sermons and merriments; the leadership of International
Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law; have resolved to take the
bull by the horn by alerting them over the growing and sustained threats to the
safety and growth of Christianity in Nigeria. The lives of over 70 million
Christians in the country are steadily under severe threats and the threats
have gone viral following the ascendance to political and military powers and
commands by some proponents of radical Islamism since mid 2015.
That is to say that Christians and Christianity in Nigeria are steadily and terminally
facing depopulation, suppression and persecution and that if nothing concrete
is done urgently to arrest the dire situation; the population of Christians in
the country shall steadily or systematically be shrunk by wide margins just as
the population of Christians in the Middle-East got brutally plummeted to
present 3% from its over 20% in the past hundred years (source: Society for the
Threatened Peoples (STP) December 2016).
Corroboratively, a respected German
rights group- Society for the Threatened
Peoples (STP), had in its 22nd December 2016 statement drew the
UN and global attention to the situation of Christians in the Middle-East in
which it found as follows: The believers are trying to escape from the
‘Cradle of Christianity’ due to the ongoing violence. The 2000-year history of
the Christians in this region might soon be over, says Kamal Sido, the STP’s
Middle East consultant. A hundred years ago, the Christians still represented
20 percent of the population of the Middle East. Now, it is only about three
percent. Most of the Iraqi Christians fled or were expelled during the past
three decades. Their number has decreased from 1.5 Million to only 300,000
today. In Central Syria, the ‘Islamic State’ (IS) has gained influence again,
which is a threat to several villages with a Christian population between
Aleppo and Damascus – such as Qaryatain or Maalula.
Even the few Christians in Turkey are
increasingly under pressure due to the intensified Kurdish conflict and the
rigorous measures taken by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The only
Christian mayor in Turkey, Februniye Akyol, was removed from office, and her
Kurdish colleagues were imprisoned. Terror, violence, and religious intolerance
have led to significant changes in the lives of millions of people in the Middle
East,” Sido criticized. The Christians and members of other religious
minorities such as the Yazidis or Mandaeans must be able to rely on their
freedom of belief – guaranteed by the state and supported by society – or they
will hardly be able to survive there. IS has been driven away from most of the
Christian communities at the so-called Nineveh plain to the north and the east
of the embattled metropole Mossul in the north of the country, but many
Christians and Yazidis will not be able to return to their villages unless the
international community can guarantee protection from Sunni and Shiite
extremists....
Also, owing to systematic and well
coordinated violence and persecution using State and non-State violent
instruments, the Christian populations in the Egypt’s Asyut communities are in
a verge of brutal extinction. Asyut of Egypt is Africa’s oldest Christian
Community, which produced the first African Pope (Coptic Orthodox Pope); called
Saint Marks; after whom the great St Marks Coptic Orthodox Cathedral of
Alexandria, built in AD60 was named. Egypt’s Asyut also produced the first
African Secretary General of the United Nations; late Prof Boutros-Boutros Ghali.
The Asyut of Egypt embraced Christianity few years after the birth of the
Church in about AD35 and death of Jesus Christ in about AD33. Christian population
of the Asyut rose to 6million or approximately 10% of the Egyptian population
of 64million people in the late 90s before being brutally depopulated to less
than 200,000 as at 2006. Between 1988
and 1990, according to the Middle-East Quarterly 2001, 50,000
Coptic Christian graduates were forcefully converted to Islam to escape State
engineered joblessness, persecution and threats and death in the hands of
radical Muslim groups.
In Nigeria, the safety of Christians and
growth of their faith were brutally undermined and threatened particularly
between 2009 and 2014 through the violent activities of northern radical
politicians and Muslim fundamentalists; using Boko Haram terror group for
purposes of Islamization and ascendance to Nigerian Presidency and its
Christianity conquest agenda. As a result, most of Christian settlements and
communities in the Northeast particularly in Borno and Adamawa States were
uprooted and decimated with many sedentary Christians of the communities killed
or forcefully converted to Islam or made to flee and become internally
displaced persons or refugees. Over 13,000 Christians were killed, 13,000
churches and 1500 Christian schools destroyed. Hundreds, if not thousands
particularly, women and children have been starved to death and over 1.3million
other Christian citizens fled their ancestral homes to escape politically oiled
persecution (Intersociety 2016;
Christian Open Doors 2015).
In all these, fatalities and
destructions suffered by Nigerian Christians in the northern part of the
country in the hands of northern radical Muslim politicians’ oiled Boko Haram
terror; are no way in comparison to threats presently faced by Nigerian
Christians in the hands of President Muhammadu Buhari, Lt Gen Turkur Buratai
and his Nigerian Army; Governor Nasiru el-Rufai of Kaduna State and the Fulani
terror group. While the fatalities and destructions so incurred; were
perpetrated at the level of non State actor and restricted to the Northeast and
parts of North-Central and Northwest; using politically sponsored Boko Haram
terrorism; the present threats are more menacing and widespread in that they are
both State actor and non State actor oriented with the country’s
largest Christians concentration of Southeast, South-South and Christian parts
of North-Central Zone of Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa States being the gravest
targets.
Statistically, President Muhammadu
Buhari as one of the major threats to the safety of Christians and growth of
Christian faith in Nigeria is elementarily understood owing to his government’s
clear-cut Islamist policies and conducts since he became Nigeria’s sixth
civilian President of Nigeria on 29th May 2015. Instances of the referenced Islamist policies
and conducts are a long list. Under his executive watch and seal, the Nigerian
Army has massacred over 300 unarmed and defenseless Christian citizens. The
armed opposition group, which is legally known as “the Miyatti Allah Cattle
Breeders Association of Nigeria”; which he is its national grand patron has
massacred over 1700 rural citizens since his assumption of office. Most of the
massacred citizens are Christians; and he has abetted and condoned same till
date. Militarily or securitization wise, no single citizen of Igbo Christian
extraction; Nigeria’s Christianity headquarters, is among the Service Chiefs of
the Nigerian Armed Forces or head of any of the country’s 12 Police Zonal
Commands till date. These are just to mention but few.
Lt Gen Turkur Yusuf Buratai and his
Nigerian Army as one of the major threats to the safety of Christians and
growth of Christian faith in Nigeria is considered going by Jihadist and gross
partisanship of the Nigerian Army under his command. Apart from the gruesome
massacre of hundreds of unarmed and defenseless Christian citizens of Southeast
and South-south extractions; the Nigerian Army has now become a
Fulani Fiefdom or an extension of the Miyatti Allah Cattle Breeders Association
of Nigeria. The Nigerian Army under Lt Gen Turkur Buratai has abandoned
professional soldering to pastoralist cattle rearing; with its
professional techniques and toolkits to be imported from Argentina.
Apart from announcement of its reported
readiness to establish a country-wide cattle ranches, a Fulani Islamist agenda
rejected and trounced legislatively; the Nigerian Army has also assumed the
role of mediator-in-chief in Zamfara State where a variant of Fulani
terrorist group has massacred not less than 600 defenseless citizens since 2015;
thereby rewarding terrorists and criminals and massacring law abiding, innocent
and unarmed citizens particularly the Shiite Muslims and Pro Biafra activists
in Kaduna, Kano, Anambra, Abia, Delta and Rivers States.
It is so sad that when armies of other
serious minded social climes are busy advancing in modern military science with
innovative technological inventions and discoveries in astronomy, economy,
military hardware and software, automobiles, aviation, rail technology, civil
engineering and other industrial researches and innovations; the Nigerian Army
under Buratai is committing suicide in the art of Fulani Nomadism.
In the case of Governor Nasiru el-Rufai
of Kaduna State as one of the major threats to the safety of Christians and
growth of Christian faith in Nigeria, he has totally abandoned conventional governance
including good governance and accountability responsibilities to Islamic
Jihadism. Apart from his strong culpability in the persecution and massacre of
over a thousand opposing but unarmed Shiite Muslim faithful, he has strongly
lent a hand in the butchery of not less than 250 Christians in Southern Kaduna
since 2015, with not less than 200 killed in 2016 alone.
The authorities of ECWA Church in Kaduna
State had in its recent press conference disclosed that a total of over 138
Christians lost their lives to Fulani terrorism in the State in the past six
months of 2016. Few days ago, Governor
el-Rufai raised an obvious false alarm saying that “Niger Delta Militants have
perfected plans to attack and kill Southern Kaduna Christians this Xmas
period”. The statement was totally diversionary and complicit; and as expected,
the authorities of the Channel TV reported that many Christians were feared
dead in the evening of Saturday, 24th December 2016 in Goska Kanikon
Village in Jemaa Local Government Area of Kaduna State when terrorists of the
Fulani armed opposition group raided the area.
Further, the Fulani Terrorist group; a
killer-unit of “the Miyatti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria” is
also one of the major threats to the safety of Christians and growth of
Christian faith in Nigeria. This is on account of its systematic and
coordinated violent attacks on Christian populations in Nigeria, which has gone
viral since late May 2015. The attacks have grown into full ethno-religious
cleansing particularly since its national grand patron, Retired Major Gen
Muhammadu Buhari became the sixth civilian President of Nigeria on 29th May
2015. The terror group has also become untouchable, sophisticated and government
and military linked.
It is a dominant expert view in
Nigeria’s Criminal Justice and academic Security industry that pastoralist
Fulani terrorism have been chosen as a replacement to folding Boko
Haram terrorism by northern radical political and Islamic fundamentalists
because of its wide network and tentacles, capable of penetrating with ease
Christian dominated Rain Forest areas of the southern Nigeria; for the purpose
of expansive short and long term depopulation, conquest, suppression and
persecution of Christians and Christian
Religion in Nigeria. While Boko Haram terrorism is almost wound up, except ISIS
variant; more energies and resources appeared to have been channeled into
rebranded Fulani terror project by radical northern politicians and Islamic
fundamentalists.
These are strongly supported by ongoing
Islamist policies and conducts of the Buhari Administration. The patterns and
trends of Fulani terror attacks have also changed from rag-tag agro-livestock
and seasonal related, to systematic, coordinated and sophisticated
ethno-religiously related. Rag-tag agro-livestock attacks by violent Fulani nomads
are usually carried out in dry seasons when pasture and live feeding grasses
are acutely scarce in dry upper north but in relatively large quantity in the
Rain Forest areas of Southeast, Southwest, South-south and old Middle-Belt. But
most of the recent violent attacks; linked to Fulani terrorism were carried out
at the heat of the rainy season and outside agro-livestock strained
circumstances. In most, if not all the areas attacked, Christian populations
were the sole targets and constituted the bulk of fatalities and destructions.
Christian leaders in Nigeria
particularly the ordained and members of the political class are also
considered as one of the major threats to the safety of Christians and growth
of Christian Religion in Nigeria. By sheer mercantilism, moral bankruptcy and
omission to act; they have allowed fellow congregants in their tens of
thousands and their holy places of worship in their tens of thousands as well
to be slaughtered and destroyed in the past seven years (2009-2016). Before
their very eyes, over 70million Christians in Nigeria were and are still
subjected to acute physical and psychological state of fear and deprived of
their constitutional rights to boldly profess their religion in accordance with
the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria. In law, omission to act lawfully is a crime
and in Christianity, omission to act correctly and morally is a high sin.
Many, if not most of the churches in
Nigeria have fully become money-making ventures and cradles of immorality,
Satanism and corruption. Salvation has given way to prosperity and primitive
and crooked pursuit of wealth by members of the clergy and the laity. Pastors,
priests and bishops have practically dispossessed Jesus Christ and assumed
control materialistically and devilishly as earthly and lavish Jesus Christ.
False prophecies and fake crusades are on rampage and church leaders now have
“magic solutions” for all social and human problems; devilishly and wickedly
deceiving and siphoning their congregants; no thanks to politically infested
human sufferings and other man-made miseries in Nigeria which are now age-long.
Agents of principalities and voodooists with crooked wealth are now offered
best positions in the church laities. As a matter of fact, Satan has been crowned Jesus
Christ in many Nigerian churches!
Some Orthodox and Pentecostal clergies
have also become gamblers and un-Joseph De Carpenter like Jesus Christ.
Members of the political class who are Christians have become arch conformists
and enemies of Christian Faith, in exchange for blood and stolen loots. In all
these, the safety of Christians and growth and development of Christian faith
in the country have steadily and dangerously impaired, jeopardized and
endangered, with innocent and defenseless Christians left in quandary and
psycho-physical state of acute confusion, helplessness and hopelessness. As
over 70 million Nigerian Christians celebrate the “canonical” birth of Jesus
Christ and the Church, we consider have considered it extremely important to
remind them that their safety and that of their Faith is in a grave danger of
short and long term extinction and annihilation by sworn enemies in political
circles and power in Nigeria.
It must be understood that Xmas celebration
goes beyond consumption of cooked rice and stew and meats or showcasing of
built and bought spatial houses and cars or spreading of bundles of naira notes
of highest denomination or consumption of liquor and other drinks or political
visits with bloated promises or traditional title takings or Christian harvests
and bazaars and so on and so forth. The gateway into Christianity and its exit
point are strictly for the growth of Christianity and its faith; embedded in
salvation, good Christian life and godliness, societal tranquility, harmony and
development.
Christian laities or congregants in
Nigeria must rise up and force their leaders to wake up from their snoring
slumbers and be pressured to triumphantly rise in defense of Christians and
their faith in Nigeria or any part thereof. Unless a firm stand is taken by
Christian leaders in Nigeria for the purpose of forcing the reversal of the
motley of Islamist policies and conducts linked to President Muhammadu Buhari,
Lt Gen Turkur Yusuf Buratai and his Nigerian Army, the Fulani terror group and
Governor Nasiru el-Rufai of Kaduna State; otherwise the Christians and their
Faith stand the chance of high certainty of being continually and
systematically suppressed, repressed, persecuted, massacred and possibly
destroyed and wiped out completely in years ahead. The political office holders
named above must be compelled to revert and take a recourse at all times to
Sections 10, 14 (3) and 38 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria; which unambiguously provide for secularism
or non State religion, non domination of political institutions and positions
by one religion and freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
Signed:
Emeka
Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman
International
Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety)
Call Line:
+2348174090052
Obianuju Joy
Igboeli, Esq.
Head, Civil
Liberties & Rule of Law Program
Call Line:
+2348180771506
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