Boko Haram: Fashola, Religious Leaders Meet

Hundreds of Christian and Muslim leaders have met in Lagos State to strategise on how to stop the incursion of the dreaded Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram, into the state.

The inter-religious meeting was convened by Governor Babatunde Fashola in the wake of growing threats by Boko Haram and to ensure that religious war did not break out in Lagos.

At the end of the meeting, lasting for hours, the religious leaders agreed that the growing menace of Boko Haram should be tackled collectively and that all Christians and Muslims should be on the alert to ward off intruders that might be trying to destabilise the state.

Chief Missioners, Ansarudeen Society of Nigeria, Sheik Abdulrahman Ahmad said there is no problem between Muslims and Christians and that members of the Boko Haram sect were not Muslims but evil people.

“There is no problem between Muslims and Christians. The security situation in this country is not a religious conflict and it is not a religious war. It is not a war between Muslims and Christians. It is just some evil people trying to hide under religion and as the people of God we have resolved to defeat this evil and these evil doers.

“We will resist any attempt by anyone to make us become enemies. This is because we are not enemies in this country. Meanwhile, we appeal to Nigerians to be security conscious,” he said.

According to him, “security consciousness is an individual responsibility of every citizen of this country. Nigerians must report suspicious movement to security operatives and we must ensure that we defeat evil and evildoers.

“They will not succeed in this country because we have renewed our commitment to cooperate and live in peace and harmony. And to ensure that Nigeria as a people attain its destiny of greatness,” he added.

Prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, Dr. Ola Makinde said: “there is so much insecurity in the country and we do not want anybody to put religious sentiment into these. So we are appealing to both Christians and Muslims to come together and be security conscious and talk and dialogue.

“When you suspect any movement or people of questionable character, please endeavour to report such person to either your pastor or the nearest police station. It is better to embrace dialogue than to engage ourselves in war.”

According to him, “we do not want any civil war in this country again. Lagos is a major meeting point for all the ethnic groups in the country. We want to make Lagos State a peaceful state. We want everyone to embrace peace. Keep aside religious sentiments and love one another because our creator wants us to do so.”

Also speaking, the Primate, African Church, Rev. Emmanuel Udofia said “we are gathered here today as one body and decided to send this message to everyone in the country, especially Lagos that everybody, irrespective of their ethnic group should be his or her brother’s keeper.

“We all should try to accommodate one another. No matter which ethnic group we belong to, as far as we are from the Nigeria, we should work for the progress and peace of the country. We should all do what will improve the co-existence of the country. Nigerians are religious people.”

“We should try to practice what we have learnt from our holy books. There is no religion that preaches evil or hatred or takes arm against one another. There is no religion that preaches war. We should embrace peace and forgive one another no matter what he or she has done to us. By this, the country will experience better development,” he added.

Speaking, Fashola advocated ethnic and religious tolerance in the country as the only means to achieve the envisaged national development, saying that ethnic and religious tolerance was key to the attainment of the expected developmental goals of the country, adding that nothing could be achieved in an atmosphere of chaos.

“Nigerians should see themselves first as human beings before any other consideration. Whichever ethnic or religious denomination anyone finds himself or herself is an accident of birth,” pointing out that it is the people who lose in the environment of chaos and anarchy.

Governor Fashola, who expressed sympathy with the religious leaders and Nigerians over those who lost their lives at the Christmas Day bombing in Niger State and the crises in Ebonyi State, said it was incumbent on all Nigerians to pray that peace reigns in the country.

“But beyond the prayers and supplications, there is work at hand. Even God said work and pray. And that is why I say, let us see those victims as human beings first; let us see human lives first, because every human life lost diminishes us. Let us see less of Christians, let us see less of Muslims. What is wrong is wrong,” he said.

“So we have a role to play to decelerate tension. I do not know of any conflict that does not end on the table. I don’t know one. Ultimately, it will come back to the table either with an international umpire, a diplomat or whatever and I have always asked, why end up there when we can start there,” he stated.

According to him, “let us identify what is the problem; is it political or economic, let us address it. Let us all rise up and say no to criminality. I don’t care what party those who manage our affairs are. What I care about now is Nigeria. I made a choice when I was a 13-year-old not to leave this country. Let us see ourselves as just brothers and sisters, in fact as Nigerians.”

Meanwhile, the National President, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor has called on Christians in the north to disregard the three-day ultimatum issued to them by Boko Haram to quit the north, describing it as a joke.

“Christians in any part of the country should disregard the ultimatum, remain calm and go about their lawful duties without any fear of intimidation from any illegal group of faceless individuals.

“The threat is illegal and unwarranted because the group lack any legitimacy to make such a demand,” said Oritsejafor in a statement.

Oritsejafor said, “you must be vigilant and report any strange movement to the necessary authorities who have been saddled with the responsibility of securing lives and property of every Nigerian in any part of the country.”

The cleric warned that such a threat could lead to civil war, but noted that the nation had come a long way and would never c ontemplate going into any form of war.

“After the last civil war which resulted in the death of millions of Nigerians, mostly young people including women and children, on both sides of the divide, we must learn to live together as one indivisible nation created by God. God must have His reasons for creating the nation with all the diversities which are actually supposed to be a source of strength,” he stated.

Oritsejafor said unequivocally that Boko Haram did not speak the voice of the Muslims in the north, saying that such threats should never be taken seriously.

“If the group is not speaking on behalf of the majority of Muslims in the North or the North as an entity, then there is no reason to give legitimacy to a faceless group of individuals who have been terrorising the nation and killing innocent citizens in the name of sectarian war,” he added.

“Security agencies owe all Nigerians the responsibility of protecting lives and property in any part of the country, because it is their constitutional right to live, acquire and own property in any part of the country without any restraint,” he added.

—Kazeem Ugbodaga