CNNC Condemns the Murder of Agom Adara
Zainab Tanimu
Kaduna, North-West, NIGERIA
Congress of Northern Nigeria Christians (CNNC) has condemned the recent murder of Agom Adara.
CNNC, a registered body of all the Christians in the 19 Northern States and the FCT saddened by the gruesome murder of the Agom Adara, His Royal Highness, Dr Maiwada Galadima (JP), has described the act as reprehensible that should have no place in today’s Nigeria.
This was contained in a press statement signed by its Media and Publicity Secretary Larry Joseph Yammai and distributed to newsmen.
The act the statement said, has not only taken root in Northern Nigeria but appears to be a recurrent decimal with some ease within the communities of our members.
“We recall that Etum Numana, Mallam Gambo Makama and his expectant wife were also killed January 1st this very year. We are seriously concerned at the disgraceful security situation in Kaduna State that has claimed over 100 lives and destroyed unquantifiable properties this October.
The body has raised concern over the leadership style in the state which it observed has further alienated the citizens along religious fault lines.
“Apprehension has taken hold of the entire Kaduna State and so CNNC wishes to express her trepidations over the probable spillover effects into other states and so calls on the President Muhammadu Buhari to quickly set up a high-power body to investigate these shameful acts with the aim to find lasting peace.
“CNNC once more notes with grave concern the rapid deterioration of the security situation across the nation particularly in the northeast. It is of great concern that Boko Haram is reported to be resisting and overrunning the Nigerian Army, even with the recent attack on the 145 Battalion in Gashigar, Borno State. Whether the military is motivated and has enough and requisite equipment to execute this war is a matter of conjecture.
Also raised is the concern over reports of clandestine burial of Nigeria’s fallen heroes who in the course of fighting insurgency in the Northeast and other places loss their lives.
“ We CNNC urges that they be honored and given decent burial as a mark of respect for sacrificing their lives in defending the sovereignty of their country.
“We believe that any citizen that has signed up to defend this great country deserves the highest Medal of Honor, the recognition the country can offer and to be treated as the heroes they truly are.
There is the need for relations of service men to be informed of the demise of their beloved ones rather than conducting burials behind closed doors it stressed.
The statement also condemned in all intent the continuous attacks on his people by the ‘terrorists Fulani herdsmen’ which has led to many loss of lives and properties citing examples of the Plateau and attacks on other locations. It also frowned at the indiscriminate arrests of people in the communities by the military while perpetrators of these killings are yet to be punished.
This act by the government it added, “only exacerbates the already fragile mistrust that has overtime been allowed to simmer. CNNC calls for swift and deliberate rounding up of these killers so that they can face the full wrath of the law.
It has raised the fear of its people being disenfranchised come 2019 general elections as the attacks are said to be in Christians dominated enclaves and are being driven out of their communities.
The president’s inaction to resettle farmers sacked from their land by the Fulani Herdsmen its described as having consequential effects on the well- being of its people.
“This inaction has 2 devastating effect on these farmers. One, that they are not being reunited with their lands and so cannot engage in farming – their only way of survival. Consequently, there shall be massive food shortages with the government taking no visible steps to plug this anomaly.
“Secondly, these farmers shall be disenfranchised with the 2019 elections. It is in this light that CNNC once again calls upon President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency constitute a high-powered commission to resettle these displaced citizens in their lands and communities and give them the adequate security they deserve as Nigerians.
It called on the federal government to ensure the adherence of the Nigerian constitution with regards to guarantying every citizen the freedom of choice and freedom to practice the religion one so desires,
Christians in many Northern states it said are being denied land to build their places of worship and if already built are denied the acquisition of Certificates of Occupancy. This practice it described as dangerous while calling on the federal government to act with utmost urgency for the sake of a united Nigeria.
On the issue of politics, “CNNC is concerned that in the just concluded gubernatorial elections in Ekiti and Osun States, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, not only became an eyewitness in election rigging through votes buying but was also a reporter of the crime with no visible steps taken to sanction severely those that made these infractions. That leaves everyone begging the question – are these the signs of things to come in the 2019 General Elections? It would appear that the government has impoverished the citizens and the poverty has become a weapon to get at the electorates so that a few Naira notes could be dangled for them to vote certain candidates while INEC and the security agencies look the other way.
The body advised that the federal government expedites action in ensuring the immediate release of Leah Sharibu and other chibok girls in captivity of the Boko Haram insurgence.
”CNNC is aware that Mr. President called the mother of Leah Sharibu to assure her that the government is doing all it can to the issue of secure Leah’s release, a promise everyone is looking forward with great expectation. Government should therefore follow this commitment with concrete action otherwise it is a mere rhetoric. It said.
Speaking on what it described as staggering statistics of the Nigerian Children that are out of school in the northern parts of the country viz- a-viz the importance of education to the development of any nation; and Nigeria being a leading nation with such outrageous number of children out of school, CNNC urges the Government to as a matter of urgency reverse the ugly trend.
“A cursory look at funding of education viz-a-viz others in the 2018 budget has clearly suggested where we are headed. It is a fact that majority of these children are in Northern Nigeria exacerbated by the harsh economic reality of the Nigerian parents.
“ CNNC demands that premium steps be taken to address this situation. It is the Government’s responsibility to reverse this ugly state”
“In conclusion, CNNC calls upon all its membership to remain vigilant and prayerful for the leadership and also wishes to call upon all Northern Christians to continuously add their voices to national issues.
END.
