Senate summons SSS, Military, Police
Insurgents kill 6 vigilantes in Adamawa
Northern Christians want an end to the menace
Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, has said he did not lobby for his present position, and therefore ready to leave at short notice if he must denounce his Christian faith. Osinbajo made this known at a town hall meeting with Benue stakeholders, yesterday, in Government House, Makurdi, the state capital.
Speaking at the meeting called to seek an end to the incessant attacks on host communities by suspected herdsmen, the vice president noted that his destiny could not be determined by anyone but by God whom he serves.
While responding to comments by some stakeholders to the effect that he was part of an agenda targeted at Christians in the country, then vice president said he will not, under any circumstance, refuse to stand up to his faith. He faulted the reasoning that the killing of women and children did not matter because he was vice president. Osinbajo said: “The president has not departed from the commitment that he made then. My Lord Bishop, you said you are not a politician; I am also not a politician. As a matter of fact, I’m also a priest and I’m a Christian; a born again Christian.
“Because I’m a born again Christian, my destiny is not determined by any man but by God whom I serve. Let me assure you that under no circumstance, none whatsoever, will I give up my faith or refuse to stand up for my faith. “You can take that to the bank.
Even the position that I currently occupy, I did not ask for it and I’m prepared to leave it at a short notice. It doesn’t mean anything. “How possible can anyone say that the killing of women and children doesn’t matter because he (Osinbajo) is Vice President or because he is president?
Certainly, it cannot be for a person who is born again. A renewed mind will know that there is justice, there is consequence even if there is no justice here on earth.” The vice president also said there was no justification for people being killed in the way they had been killed, whether in churches or mosques or wherever by herdsmen or someone else. He said it is the business of government to ensure that there is security for the people.
Debunking the feeling in some quarters that there was an agenda, he said: “Some people have suggested that there is an agenda. I heard the very eloquent words of Dr. Magdalene Dura, who said this is an agenda. “But let me say to you that although, I do not accept that, but the only way that we can prove that there is indeed no agenda is to protect the people, it’s to fight for justice and to rebuild where there has been destruction.”
Cleric challenges FG Earlier Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Gboko, Williams Avenya, in his comment at the meeting, had asked the vice president to exonerate himself from the killings in the country, and serve as someone who understands the law and one who speaks for justice. Turning to Osinbajo, he said: “Honourable Vice President, you are a Christian. When you once met us, we spoke to you at Gwarimpa. We called you friend, you called us friend. “When Buhari came to campaign and request of us to appeal to our people to vote for him, he pointed at you and said ‘here is a Christian, my Vice President. How can I turn Nigeria into an Islamic territory?
“The point I’m trying to make is that a day is going to come when you, as vice president, the injustices in our land, especially those perpetrated on smaller tribes that have no one to fight for them; when the issues and the records are raised, you too will bear the brunt of that problem.”
…Senate summons DSS, military, police Meanwhile, the Senate, yesterday, summoned the State Security Service, military as well as the police for a briefing next week over last week’s killings in Birnin Gwari local government area of Kaduna state. Representatives of the security agencies are to give the lawmakers updates on the killings in the area, as well as measures taken to beef up security in the state. Senate President Bukola Saraki, gave the summons at the plenary.
The summon was sequel to a point of order raised by Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central), who decried the continued killings despite the visits of security chiefs to the area. Chronicling the tragic incidents in the area, the lawmaker recalled that “just few days ago, no fewer than 87 people were kidnapped along Birnin-Gwari/Kaduna Road.
“And a week before then, tens of people were massacred in Gwaska village in the same local government. Before then, we have had series of attacks and invasion of villages and towns in the same local government. Months ago, about 11 soldiers were killed by bandits and criminal gangs in Birnin-Gwari.”
While thanking the United Nations for their moral interventions in bringing to global spotlight the situations in Birnin-Gwari, he stressed that there “is a need for the federal government to take Birnin-Gwari as serious as other parts of Nigeria.
“Birnin-Gwari, parts of Zamfara and Niger states are becoming the Sambisa of the North-west. People are killed every day, people are kidnapped every day, villages have been raided and razed by bandits. Farmers have chosen to abandon their farms and moved to cities. “They live in a period of daily mourning and daily funeral services. The violence has been going on. The visits by army and security chiefs have not changed anything. Condemnations and condolences have been the order of the day.
“It is remotely located. The media are not there to report and there are no people to protest.” Sani’s point of order came barely hours after the Chief of Army Staff , Tukur Buratai, flagged off a two Battalion Forward Operation Base (FOB) at the troubled BirninGwari.
Northern Christians seek end to killings In a related development, the Congress of Northern Nigerian Christians has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to proffer urgent solution to the on-going killings by killerherdsmen across the country.
CNNC, in a statement issued yesterday by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Larry Joseph Yammai, decried “the nonchalance of Christian leaders,” adding that retired General Theophilus Danjuma’s recent comment should not be handled with levity. According to them, the allegations should be urgently addressed to safeguard the lives and property of Nigerians across the country.
The registered body of all Christians in the 19 Northern states and the FCT, also called for the removal of service chiefs and other heads of security agencies to freshen up the security agencies and give them a new impetus to face the fight against killerherdsmen and insurgency. The statement read in part: “CNNC expresses outrage at the rising spate of killings in Benue state and other parts of the country. These killings have become a recurrent decimal in our nation as hardly a day goes by without these heinous acts being perpetrated by the elusive Fulani herdsmen. “CNNC demands practical and urgent steps to stop these senseless killings.
CNNC commiserates with the wounded and those who have lost their loved ones. We are confident that help from our Heavenly Father is on the way as our redeemer is alive. “CNNC also calls on the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to, as a matter of urgency, employ diverse practical and visible steps in eliminating these bandits that have actually made the Nigerian nation a battle field where the innocent are butchered on daily basis.
“Government must not offer the semblance of support to these killers as no action tantamount to tacit approval of the killings. The unwillingness of the government to tackle and eliminate these killers has emboldened them, hence, the almost daily killings across the land.
“CNNC is alarmed by the nonchalance of Christian leaders, most especially, at this trying time when Christians and non-Christians alike are experiencing unprecedented carnage from the so-called herdsmen who are obviously deranged. We shudder to think that the authorities will turn a blind eye, while women, children and the defenceless are being killed on a daily basis.”
