The United States (US) Secretary of States, Mr John Kerry's visit to Nigeria has been termed as discriminatory by the Christian Association of Nigerian (CAN) following the limit of his visit to the Palace of Sultan of Sokoto and Presidency, reports ITRealms.
CANN on Thursday said described Kerry visit as discriminatory, personal and divisive and warned him to stop interfering in the internal affairs of the country, alleging the visit was aimed at furthering the federal government’s plan to continue to persecute the teeming population of Nigerian Christians.
Kerry,
during the visit had only visited the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar
III, met with the 19 northern governors, whom only three are Christians.
At the Presidential Villa, where Kerry was hosted by President
Muhammadu Buhari, met with select northern governors, which also irked
critics on the selection process of his hosts.
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The
President of CAN, Rev. Dr. Supo Ayokunle, in an interview with
journalists said Kerry’s lack of respect to the heterogeneous nature of
Nigeria, amounted to favouring northern Nigeria and Muslims to the
detriment of the Christian community.
According
to Ayokunle, the attitude and disposition of the Secretary of States
and the discrimination he adopted during the visit supports accusations
that the President Barack Obama’s administration, alongside Kerry and
other strategic US politicians in the Obama’s government openly
supported the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2016 general
elections, which produced the current leadership of the country.
While
calling on Kerry to “stop interfering in Nigerian affairs”, CAN
president explained that the visit was a complete flop and exposed
Kerry’s negligence of Nigeria’s unity in diversity ideology that has
remained the bedrock of the country.“Why
did he meet with 19 states governors, without southern governors, is
Nigeria the north alone, why did you go to the north alone?”
Ayokunle
stated that visit sends a wrong message, affirming the report that
Christians under the Buhari’s administration are under a siege.
“There’s a siege on Christians. Kerry, his actions speak volume, his
actions, body language were very divisive.
“If
US Secretary of States is coming for official visit, it’s
understandable, but we demand explanation why he was selective. Has the
Sultan Palace become another State House? Was Kerry invited by the
Sultan?
“We
have 36 States in Nigeria; he only selected northern governors to meet
with them. It was a visit to the north, not to Nigeria. It was surely a
very divisive visit. With the visit to the north, Kerry’s visit has
heightened fear and tension among Christians in Nigeria, if they cannot
bring us together, they should not interfere in our affairs”
Speaking
against the perennial killing of Christians in northern Nigeria, The
CAN president said, based on government the selective persecution of
Christians mostly by the Department of State Service (DSS) and the
Nigerian Police, it was obvious the administration was anti-Christians.
“Have the DSS arrested the Muslim youths who burnt down a Catholic Church in Niger State because they were worshiping on Friday?
What happened to the ECWA Pastor who was killed in his farm in Obi
Local Government Area of Nasarawa State? What have happened with
Redeemed Preacher who was murdered in Kubwa, Abuja? he said.
In addition, they said, it “Look
at the recent case in Zamfara State, Christians where burnt alive. What
has happened? They will tell you, they are still investigating. Have
they been arrested and charged them to court? If the government cannot
sit up and protect Christians, tolerance is going to break down, they
should do the right thing, they should not provoke Christians. Have we
ever seen this government bring anybody to book?”
The
CAN president tasked President Buhari “to come out clean”, adding that,
“a government that doesn’t listen is not for the people.”
Ayokunle
maintained that while the DSS and the Police have been slow in
arresting extremists killing Christians in the country, they have been
fast persecuting Christians.
The
CAN leader called on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to as a matter
of urgency intervene in the case of Mr Joe Chinakwe who was arrested for
naming his dog ‘Buhari’. He argued that, naming an animal with
somebody’s name is never a criminal offence.
“The
NBA should take up that case and ascertain whether the man has the
right to give any name to a dog. They should come and protect the man’s
human rights and set the record why the case is not a criminal offence",
Ayokunle stated.
Uboshe Uboshe/GEE
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