Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has urged the Federal Government and security chiefs to stop the blame game on the incessant killings in Kaduna State.
The umbrella body of Christians in the country said rather than blaming bandits, the authorities should act decisively to halt the sustained bloodbath in southern Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria.
Chairman of the South East chapter of CAN, Bishop Goddy Okafor, said on Sunday at a news conference in Aba, Abia State, that the bandits being blamed for the killings were not spirits, but humans who could be identified and tracked.
He noted that the failure of the authorities to halt and rein in perpetrators of the gruesome act had created fear in the citizens about their safety in a country they call their own.
“Every time there are killings, some bandits are blamed. So, we keep asking, these bandits are they really human beings or spirits? These people that are being killed in Kaduna are Nigerians. Government and security agencies owe it as a duty to protect them.
The protection of lives and property is the responsibility of the government; the killings going on in southern Kaduna are very disturbing. We are one people and we believe we are one nation, but for these persistent killings going on in southern Kaduna to keep occurring without drastic measures to stop it, is very disturbing”.
Okafor, who is the presiding Bishop of Glorious Gospel Centre, urged the Federal Government to clear the doubts in the minds of the citizenry on the source of the killings, warning that a situation where citizens are in doubt of the sanctity of their constitutional rights, is detrimental to the progress of a nation.
He said peace and security will continue to elude the country if killings, banditry and other violent crimes were not checked.
