-The Methodist Church of Nigeria has urged President Buhari to declare armed herdsmen as terrorists
- The church faulted President Buhari’s decision to declare the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) terrorists; without doing same to the armed herdsmen
- It said everything must also be done to promote religious tolerance and peaceful co-existence amongst citizens, not minding their faith, religious bias or creed
President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged again by the Methodist Church of Nigeria, to declare armed herdsmen who are responsible for the incessant killings across the country, terrorists, Vanguard reports.
The church made the call at its 36th Council of Methodist Bishops at the Hoarse Memorial Methodist Church in Yaba, Lagos; and the development was made public in a 17-point communiqué signed by the prelate, His Eminence Samuel Kanu Uche and Secretary to Conference, Rt Rev Michael Akinwale.
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NAIJ.com gathers that Uche said the call became necessary due to the ideology of the herdsmen. He also faulted President Buhari’s decision to declare the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) terrorists; without doing same to the armed herdsmen.
He stated: “It will be a height of injustice to declare the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) a terrorist group, without doing same to armed herdsmen who have graduated from carrying bows and arrows to sophisticated weapons, including AK-47 assault rifles which they deploy against host communities across the country.”
The church also condemned the recent killings of two priests by suspected herdsmen in Benue state; and urged the president to “protect Nigerians of all faith because by virtue of our constitution, Nigeria is a secular state and rights, and freedom of association to any religion should not be suppressed, attacked or subverted.”
It also applauded the federal government’s recent decision, based on the recommendation of a sub-Committee on herdsmen/farmers clashes, to ban open grazing of cattle and establish ranchers in states affected by the herdsmen onslaught.
The communiqué stated: “Everything must also be done to promote religious tolerance and peaceful co-existence amongst the citizens, not minding their faith, religious bias or creed.”
The bishops further expressed disappointment over what they described as apparent disconnect and lack of cohesion and synergy between the nation’s security agencies; which they said, led to the kidnap of the Dapchi schoolgirls.
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Samuel Kalu-Uche, claimed that politicians were behind herdsmen killings.
He said: “I understand that the guns are issued to them by politicians." Kalu-Uche urged President Muhammadu Buhari to fish out those arming the herdsmen and make them to face the law.
He also advised politicians who think they can rig themselves into elected positions, to know that Nigerians are now wiser.
Should Nigerians take up arms to defend themselves against herdsmen? - on NAIJ.com Street Gist:
Source: Naija.ng
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