The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN has clashed with the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs’, NSCIA over the reported Christian genocide in Nigeria by US President Donald Trump. Sultan Sokoto, the Spiritual Leader of Muslims in the country is the head of NSCIA.
Apart from the PFN, other Christians bodies in the country, including the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN agreed with Trump that Christians are indeed being killed in their numbers by the insurgent groups who are trying to impose Islam on the country.
PFN President, Pastor Wale Oke said on Sunday, while speaking to journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital that it’s preposterous to deny the killings of Christians by some Islamic terror groups in the country.
According to him, the problem has persisted despite President Trump warning to the Nigerian government to stop the problem, citing some communities in the north where terrorists have attacked in the last few days.
He said most of the communities and people that have been killed are Christians, saying the terrorists have also killed Muslims and adherents of other religions in the country.
“Where is Lea Sharibu? What happened to the Chibok girls? Chibok is a predominantly Christian community in Borno State,” Oke said.
“What is going on in Benue State is still on now? Since Donald Trump cried foul against Nigeria on the matter of genocide, many more people are being killed in Plateau State.”
The PFN President stressed that Christians and Muslims in the country are not at war, saying the two religions worshipers have been living in harmony for years, he however said that’s not to say Christians are not the major target of Islamist trying to imposing Islam on the country.
“We are not accusing the Muslim community, get me clear. We have been living together for a long time, maintaining mutual respect and harmony. It is the violent sect of Islam that is called Boko Haram, ISWAP, and others that use the name of Islam to attack churches.
“Hundreds of churches had been burnt down, tens of thousands of Christians had been massacred. Hundreds of pastors had been butchered.
“It would be a desecration to the blood of these Nigerians to call it any other name. There is not a single instance of a Christian group attacking Muslims. It is always the other way round, “ Oke said.
The NSCIA had after a meeting in Abuja, the nation’s capital on Sunday rebuffed President Trump’s alleged Christians genocide in the country, saying Muslims are also victims of terrorism. The Islamic body said the current problem of insecurity is fueled by social economic challenges in the country, saying Christians and Muslims are not at war with each other.
According to the General Secretary of the NSCIA, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, the insurgent groups have inflicted a collective ‘pain’, and that the leaders of the two major religions in the country must work together to tackle the insurgents who targets “us all”.
“We are both Muslims and Christians — victims of a perennial, failed security architecture and a brutal criminal insurgency that targets us all.
“ We have never denied our collective pain. Do not allow foreign political gladiators or domestic separatists to exploit our real suffering to destroy our shared home.
“We, as Muslims, stand with you today against all forms of violence, criminality, and terror. We affirm that in Nigeria, there is no Christian genocide, and there is no Muslim genocide.
“The tragedy in Nigeria is not one of religion but of poverty, climate change, prolonged poor governance, and armed criminals who kill indiscriminately — while sections of the world seek to exploit the situation for geopolitical gain.
“We also urge the Nigerian government to redouble its efforts to protect all citizens, regardless of faith; to defeat the bandits and terrorists; to expose all corrupt instigators of this divisive agenda; and to hold to account any foreign actors working against Nigeria’s unity.
“If the USA truly loves humanity, it should strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to fight banditry and insurgency, not undermine the country with false narratives,” Oloyede said.
Meanwhile, the magazine reported that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met with the sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar IIl and His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, the Archbishop of the Abuja Catholic last week as part of a wider consultations with religious leaders in the country in the face of the US threats.
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