From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Some pastors in Kaduna State, yesterday, took to the streets to protest the spate of killings and kidnappings by terrorists in the state urging the Federal Government to bomb bandits and terrorists in their enclaves out of existence.
Under the banner of the Interfaith Alliance, the pastors, who occupied the popular Lagos Roundabout in the state capital, urged the Federal Government to take drastic actions against the terrorists who have continued to launch attacks on various parts of the state.
The protest came against the backdrop of attacks in the state in recent months, especially the killing of innocent civilians Thursday night.
The clerics threw their weights behind the state government, saying, security and intelligence agencies should isolate and bomb terrorists’ enclaves.
“Some of the statements that the Kaduna State government has made, such as bombing the forest, it is surely a welcome development, but what we expect is that the government should carry out precession attacks. When you said carpet bomb, they can hide among innocent people. So if you carpet bomb them, innocent people will die. So we believe that the government should monitor their movements through intelligence and carry out the bombing.”
The clerics said though the government was doing its best, its best wasn’t good enough, demanding it was time the Federal Government bombed the bandits out of existence.
They also appealed to the Federal Government to compensate all victims of bandits attacks, award scholarships to children affected by banditry and also rebuild communities ravaged by attacks.
Convener of Interfaith Alliance, Rev. Emmanuel Adebayo, said these measures would ameliorate the sufferings of victims of terrorism and make them overcome all psychological trauma from such attacks.
“The essence of our gathering today is to put together what we refer to as ‘Kaduna prays’, a prayer work against insecurity. I am sure everybody knows that Kaduna is one of the states plagued by incidences of banditry and terrorism and various forms of criminality, and of late, it has been on the increase.
“We believe that the government is doing their best but their best was not good enough. That’s why we have come out to seek for divine intervention concerning the issue of peace and security in Kaduna State and Nigeria at large.
“Obviously we are not satisfies with the way the government is going about insecurity at the federal level. However, we want to actually acknowledged the little efforts that have been made but we believe that more can still be done. The government needs to be more proactive.”