The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, in the 19 northern states of the country, has put before President Muhammadu Buhari, a 10-point agenda to stop the tide of killings across Nigeria.
The Christian body presented the agenda to the president on Thursday when they visited him at the Presidential Villa.
Expressing serious worry over the resumed killings which the group said were targeted at Christians on one hand and on the other, some ethnic groups in the country, it emphasized the need for the government to reverse the trend.
The suggestions to bring an end to the problems of insecurity, as contained in the statement presented by its Chairman, Rev. Yakubu Pam, reads:
“That the security architecture of the country should be re-visited to give it a new lease of life and responsiveness to earn the required trust, confidence, and support of “
“All communities ravaged by the herdsmen violence in the North should be rebuilt and adequate security be put in place to enable displaced persons to return to their homes and means of livelihood.
“The Federal Government should roll out a robust advocacy programme to enlighten the nomadic herders on modern cattle rearing against open grazing and roaming across states and national boundaries.
“The federal government should encourage herders to acquire land for cattle ranching across the country as a means of private business investment.
“ While the Federal Government under the current administration is celebrating an agricultural revolution, most farmers, especially in the north, can no longer go to their farms due to the sustained attacks by armed herdsmen. We, therefore, urge the government to reconcile its priority by providing the necessary safety for the farmers to go on with their farming activities.
“ We observe that the continuous abduction of underaged Christian girls who are forcefully converted to Islamic religion and given out for marriage without the consent of their parents breeds religious disharmony.
We, therefore, wish to state that the situation does not only violate the fundamental human rights of the girls but is also a call to anarchy if such actions were to get an even score by the Christian population. The appeal, therefore, is for your quick intervention to ensure that the numerous girls held under such circumstances are released to their parents.
“ In the spirit of the above observation, we wish to demand that intensive and speedy actions should be taken for the release of girls in captivity, especially Leah Sharibu.
“That all perpetrators including the so-called foreigners as alleged of these heinous crimes against humanity in parts of northern states should be arrested and prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others.
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“The Federal Government should as a matter of urgency make adequate provisions for farmers who have been adversely affected by these undesirable herdsmen attacks.
“We are appealing to Mr. President to call on his colleagues in politics irrespective of political parties to work together and make 2019 election to be free and fair and a model for all other African countries.”
Praying that it would be well with Nigeria under his leadership, CAN reiterated the need for Buhari to halt the “senseless blood shedding and massive destruction of lives and property in the land.”
