By Femi Fani-Kayode
The shameful call by the Council of Imams for the arrest of the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Christian leaders in Southern Kaduna for asking the people to defend themselves is not only reckless and provocative but also self-seeking and dangerous.
Lest we forget the facts are as follows: 808 Christians were butchered on Christmas eve and Christmas day by the Muslim Janjaweed Fulani militia in Southern Kaduna.
Not one of the butchers and bloodthirsty murderers that perpetuated these heinous crimes have been identified, apprehended, arrested or eliminated since then by our security forces.
The Christians of Nigeria are still in mourning and the people of Southern Kaduna are still suffering from heavy trauma.
Despite that there have been no soothing words or expressions of regret, consolation or solidarity from any Sunni Muslim group in the country since the pogrom took place.
The only thing that they have heard are threats and insults from the Council of Imams. The only exceptions are the Shiite Muslims who have consistently expressed outrage about what is going on in Southern Kaduna and who have themselves also been subjected to mass murder and genocide in Kaduna state simply because they are not Sunnis.
Simply put, the Islamists first butchered the flock then told the shepherd that he dare not complain or attempt to protect those that were left alive. What type of monsters are these?
The Supreme Council Of Islamic Affairs made matters worse by saying that those that killed 808 Christians in Southern Kaduna on Christmas eve and Christmas day were “unknown elements”.
Really? This is surely the biggest insult of all. It is rather like saying that those that perpetuated the holocaust against the Jews which resulted in the cold-blooded murder of six million Jews were “unknown elements”. To indulge in such mendacity is as insensitive as it is callous.
Worse still it represents the greatest perversion of truth and the most bestial denial of decency and justice that Nigeria has witnessed in many years.
It is falsehood and perfidy, cooked and served up by a group of unconscionable and uncontrollable dark and evil men who believe that they can get away with absolutely anything and who are a law unto themselves.
Meanwhile, Miyetti Allah, the umbrella organisation that speaks for the Fulani herdsmen and the Janjaweed militia, have said that the mass murder of Christians that took place in Southern Kaduna on Christmas eve and Christmas day were “reprisal” and “revenge” killings for the murder of their kith and kin by the Christians of Southern Kaduna in 2011. Need we look any further for who the real culprits are? I ask again, what type of monsters are these?
And why has our President refused to call them to order? Is it because he shares the same faith and comes from the same region as them? Is it because the President himself is not only a Muslim and a Fulani man but also the Life Patron of Miyetti Allah?
Whatever the reasons are for the indifference of our President and the callousness and insensitivity of the Council of Imams, the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, Miyetti Allah and all those that support them, it would be wise for them to appreciate the fact that the patience of the rest of the country is fast running out and that they are set to provoke a chain of ugly events the end of which will not augur well for them or their cause.
Nothing reflects this better than the words of Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel, who is not only one of God’s endtime generals but also one of the most credible, influential and powerful clerics in the country today. He said,
“Since when has it become a crime for Christians to say they can defend themselves ?
“Must the north always rule? If Nigeria will break let it break. No marriage is by force. I curse every Islamic northern forces sponsoring this uprising in Jesus name. You catch anyone that looks like them, kill him! There is no reporting to anybody. Kill him! Pull off his neck! And we spill his blood on the ground. What nonsense. They said why should Christians say they could defend themselves, hold it! What stupid statement, why should Christians say they could defend themselves? So, they should watch for you to put a knife to their necks? You think we are dummies? What! What? All those zeros census they are fake. Where are the human beings?Where are they? We go around the place. Where are they? We’ve never had a successful census in this country. Where are they? Don’t mistake only those in politics as in power. The anointed in the Lord are the ones in power. By divine ordination, don’t mistake that. There was a king in the land but Elijah was determining the events of the nation. If I say it will not rain here for three years, it will not drop. What nonsense! Who born their mother, who born their father? They are too small. Come! Get excited and walk in confidence. Any devil that misbehaves around you will be slain by the fire!”
These are tough and timely words indeed and they serve as something of an admonition even though they were spoken well before the Christmas day genocide in Southern Kaduna.
Whether anyone likes it or not these
words are prophetic and even more relevant today than they were when this great and deeply courageous man of God spoke them in 2015.
Clearly the drums of war and conflict are already beating in our nation and no-one takes a greater share of the blame for this than those identifiable forces that are encouraging, sponsoring, protecting and covertly supporting the barbaric and murderous terrorists, including the Fulani herdsmen and militias, that plague our land today. They are all, to the last man, nothing but monsters and beasts. (TO BE CONCLUDED).