by Lekan Olanrewaju

Leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ayo Oritsejafor, yesterday issued a “final call” to the Nigerian government over the Boko Haram sect, stating that a solution had to be found once and for all.

Speaking on Wednesday at a press briefing in Abuja, Reverend Oritsejafor stated: “We are making the final call, I quote, the last call to the Government to stop this madness once and for all.”

“The questions we have always asked is that in the 51 years of existence of Nigeria as a nation, who are those that have governed this country most?” he asked. “Most of them are from a particular section of the North”.

He went on to say that the Church could no longer guarantee the cooperation of aggrieved citizens in the country.

“The Church leadership had hitherto put great restraint on the restive and aggrieved millions of Nigerians but can no longer guarantee such cooperation if this trend of terror is not halted immediately,” he said.

“The Nigerian nation and the international community has been witness to the step by step escalation of violence against innocent citizens with the Church suffering the greatest loss. We have persistently pleaded with government to take courage and act to stop the surge of terror. At this point in the unfolding security challenges, it has become irrelevant whether the root cause is political, religious, ethnic or ideological. The fundamental issues are that the intimidation, killings, bombings and wanton destruction of lives and properties must stop immediately.”

“As President of the Christian Association of Nigerian (CAN) my first call to all peace-loving Nigerians is remain calm in the face of all the insecurity challenges as I am aware that the greater part of the overall design is to instill fear in the populace,” he continued. “I will now make final call to Nigerian Government to use all resources available to it to clearly define and neutralise the problem as other nations have done.”