Ahead of the October deadline on the quit notice issued to
some sections of the country living in the north, the forum of the 19 Northern
States and FCT chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has urged
Nigerians to stay where ever they reside without fear.
The Chairman of the forum Dr Yakubu Pam who made the plea on
Thursday in Abuja at the opening of a one-day leadership summit organised by
the group said they believed in the unity of the country.
He noted that despite the withdrawer of the ultimatum by the
Coalition of the Northern Groups, there is still palpable fear among the
populace.
He said every Nigerian has right to live where ever they
desire to live in any part of the country without fear of intimidation.
He added that it is the primary responsibility of government
at all levels, particularly the security agencies to ensure adequate security
of lives and property of the every citizen, irrespective of their religion or
ethnicity.
“We come today as leadership of the northern Nigerian CAN to
call our brothers and sisters from the South, Igbos, those at home and those
who are here (in the north); they should know that we are together, and we
believe in the unity of this country. As spiritual fathers in the first place,
we have prayed, they should be able to remove fear from their heart and relax
wherever they are; there is no power that surpassed the power of prayer.
“Secondly, we call on the Federal Government, state
governors of various states to call on their people, we need to live together
in peace. And security agencies should be up and doing, so that, our people
(southern brothers) will not fear. We also call on our traditional rulers,
particularly, in the areas, where the Igbo minorities are found in the north,
that the protection of lives and property are largely respected,” Pam said.
Also, the Presiding Bishop of the Dominion Chapel
International, Bishop John Praise Daniel admonished all Nigerians to be a peace
maker in any position or level they found themselves.
He said, “Peace is what every community needs, and we must
all agitate for peace, we must be agitators of peace. We cannot avoid as
Christian to insinuate any other thing apart from peace in our nation. We must
be peace maker at any levels.”
By Abbas Jimoh
