"Wake Up", CAN Tells Jonathan

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to wake up from slumber and end the perennial killings going on in Plateau State.

“If the government wants peace to reign in this country, then it must go beyond the usual condemnation and rhetoric by exposing the sponsors of these so called Fulani Herds men that have continued to cause havoc to Christians in Plateau, Benue, Taraba and the Southern part of Kaduna state,” it said in a statement signed by Pastor Sunday Oibe, the spokesperson of the Northern Chapter of CAN.
“We want to state categorically that we are not accepting the usual condemnation by government which has become a mere slogan,” the statement said, stressing its belief that there are some powerful elements who are behind the activities of the so-called herds men. “The Government must not just condemn it; it must fish out the perpetrators and sponsors of this wickedness and bring them to justice for the sake of peace and stability.”
The association also called on the National Assembly to convene a sovereign national conference for Nigerians to determine whether they wish to continue to live together.  It said those people who want to live by the swords and bombs can have their own country and kill themselves.
CAN urged Jonathan to stop at nothing this time around until he brings the activities of terrorists to an end. “We will not accept a situation where only one tribe in Nigeria is trying to bring the entire country to its knee. This is absolutely unacceptable.”
The association recalled the admission by President Jonathan that there are some Boko Haram members in his government, and said evidence of that was available in the activities of the Special Task Force in Plateau state which failed to respond to distress calls during the massacre of rural communities in Barakin-Ladi Local government area the state at the weekend.
In that regard, CAN asked several questions:
•    Has the government of Nigeria legalised possession of arms by unauthorised individuals?
•    If the answers no, how did the Fulani herds men in the north come to be in possession of sophisticated weapons, including military uniforms and bullet proof vests?
•    Who supplied them these weapons and the uniforms?
•    Where were the Special Military Task Force deployed to Plateau state when this massacre was going on?
•    Why did it take them five hours to get to the scene of the incident?
CAN said it had reports that the Special Task Force was contacted by 4am, but did not show up in the area until about 9:30am, and that it was the mobile police that went to the scene of the incident.
“Whose orders is the Special Military Task Force carrying out in Plateau?” the statement asked, wondering why, having promised it was on its way, the Task Force failed to show up until well after the attackers had finished their slaughter operation.
“Our stand as Christians in the North is that, we have lost confidence in the ability of the Special Task Force in Plateau to protect the lives and property of Christians in the state,” the statement said.  “We will not accept any intimidation of Christians by security agencies over this issue.”
CAN urged the Christians in Plateau state not to lose hope and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of the unprovoked mass killings, and called on all Christians in the North to raise the alarm by calling on the security agencies whenever they see Fulani herds men in their communities as the herdsmen have become special terrorists that are as deadly as the Boko Haram Islamic sect.
They further called on Christians in Northern Nigeria to fast and pray for three days “and the God of heaven will fight for us.”

[The full text of the statement]:
We Christians in Northern Nigeria are calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to demonstrate enough political will to bring an end to the activities of terrorist groups in the north.
The President once declared that there are some Boko Haram members in his government; we can now see the manifestation of this, especially in the activities of the Special Task Force in Plateau state which failed to respond to distress calls during the massacre of rural communities in Barakin-Ladi Local government area the state.
This time around, the President should stop at nothing until he brings the activities of terrorists to an end. We will not accept a situation where only one tribe in Nigeria is trying to bring the entire country to its knee. This is absolutely unacceptable.
It is activities of some members of this tribe that is undermining the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC) which seeks to integrate as a nation. One tribe must not be seen to be loading it over the rest of Nigerians.
Nigeria is bigger than any tribe or religion. We must, as a people with conscience, sense of patriotism and sense of justice and fair play resist these mindless, barbaric killings.
We call on the National Assembly to forget about their personal interest and convoke national conference to determine whether we should continue to live together. Those people who want to live by the swords and bombs can have their own country and kill themselves.
Those who want to live in peace and catch up with development that is going on in some other parts of the world can have their country and make progress.
It is now very imperative that Nigerians must sit on a roundtable to decide whether we can stay together or not, so that one section of the country will not continue to draw back other parts who want to make progress.
We urge all peace loving Nigerians who want to live freely and make progress to demand for the convocation of a national sovereign conference so that we will bring an end to these killings and destruction of property. This is the only way we can peacefully bring an end to this madness so that those who want to make progress can make progress and those who want to be killing can go on killing themselves when they are in their own country.
We urged the Christians in Plateau state not to lose hope and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of these unprovoked mass killings including the killing of Senator Gyang Dantong  and the Majority Leader of the Plateau state House of Assembly, Hon. Gyang Fulani.
We want to state categorically that we are not accepting the usual condemnation by government which has become a mere slogan. The Government must not just condemn it, it must fish out the perpetrators and sponsors of this wickedness and bring them to justice for the sake of peace and stability.
We believe that there are some powerful elements who are behind the activities of these so called herds men.
We want to ask pertinent questions: Has the government of Nigeria legalised possession of arms by unauthorised individuals? If the answers no, how did the Fulani herds men in the north come to be in possession of sophisticated weapons, including military uniforms and bullet proof vests?
Who supplied them these weapons and the uniforms? Where were the Special Military Task Force deployed to Plateau state when this massacre was going on? Why did it take them five hours to get to the scene of the incident?
Reports reaching us said the Special Task Force was contacted by 4: am. It was about9:30 am that the task force went there. Were understood that it was the mobile police that went to the scene of the incident.
Whose orders is the Special Military Task Force carrying out in Plateau? If the Barakin-Ladi Local Government chairman called the Task Force and they promised they were coming, why did the Task Force fail to go until after they terrorists had finished their operation?
Our stand as Christians in the North is that, we have lost confidence in the ability of the Special Task Force in Plateau to protect the lives and property of Christians in the state. We will not accept any intimidation of Christians by security agencies over this issue.
If the government wants peace to reign in this country, then it must go beyond the usual condemnation and rhetoric by exposing the sponsors of these so called Fulani Herds men that have continued to cause havoc to Christians in Plateau, Benue, Taraba and the Southern part of Kaduna state.
It is becoming very dangerous for Christians to go about their legitimate businesses in the north as a result of terrorists’ activities.
We call on Christians in the north to raise alarm by calling on the security agencies whenever they see Fulani herds men in their communities because these Fulanis have now become special terrorist as deadly as the dreaded Boko Haram Islamic sect.
We are calling on Christians in Northern Nigeria to fast and pray for three days and the God of heaven will fight for us.