The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna State has condemned the Easter bombing that claimed several lives and destroyed properties. This was just as it said that such act of terrorism was ungodly and detrimental to peaceful co-existence between the two religious bodies.
Also, the Chairman of CAN in Kaduna State, Rev Samuel Kujiyat has specifically pointed accusing fingers at the Boko Haram sect for heating up the polity and by extension putting Kaduna and other states in the North under siege.
In a related development, the CAN chief accused some Christian elders in the region of attempts to cause division in the religious body and connive with the national leadership to frustrate him out of office.
Kujiyat said his office would no longer fold its arms and watch an “illegal body” known as the Northern CAN become a nuisance and threat to the association’s corporate existence and added that they had since concluded arrangement to stop them from operating from the CAN premises.
According to him, the constitution of CAN does not have any provision for Northern or Southern states CAN and pointed out that it was illegal to continue to harbor the so called Northern states CAN in their premises.
Kijiyat recalled how his administration suffered series of intrigues and attempts to impeach him after he was duly elected to lead the Christian body in the state and said that his ability to lead this far was just the will of God in action because his adversaries left no stone unturned to convince the incumbent President of CAN to replace him with someone else.
But in his reaction, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Northern CAN, Sunday Oibe said, “the allegation that the Northern CAN is illegal is laughable, it is not illegal because it is the coming together of the 19 northern States chairmen of the religious group.”
He said, “What led to this outburst and bitterness is the fact that the state chairman is occupying an illegal position because the election did not follow the laid down provision. It was the leadership of the five blocks that make up CAN in Kaduna State that pleaded on his behalf.”
Oibe added that the state CAN was being rebellious against the CAN national body, “in the eyes of God when you rebel against your spiritual father, God places you in the same place with the witch craft.”
Kujiyet, in an Easter interactive press conference held at the CAN state secretariat, yesterday, said that, “In spite of housing the Northern states CAN for years, they have been working against the state CAN and constitutionally, it is illegal to continue to harbour Northern states CAN in our premises, and also security unwise because right under our watchful eyes they have worked against us for over seven years, trying our tolerance to its limit”.
He however said that forgiveness, reconciliation and peace were very essential for the building up of mutual trust, respect, unity, harmony, and peaceful co-existence not only in Kaduna but in Nigeria.
“The 2012 insecurity, bombings of worship places, shootings and killings of innocent people posed by the Boko Haram terrorist especially targeting Kaduna State have necessitated yet another cancelling of the Easter Monday rally.
That was the same way the post presidential election violence of 2011 curfew prevented CAN from holding her annual Easter Monday rally.”