From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Pan-Arewa socio-political organisation, Northern Elder’s Forum (NEF), has urged the Federal Government, to deal decisively with anybody inciting religious crisis in the country.
This is even as it called on both Christians and Muslims to cultivate the culture of living harmoniously devoid of unwarranted hatred and killings.
NEF’s Director, Publicity and Advocacy, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed in a statement yesterday, said the alarm raised by the Department of State Security (DSS), was an affirmation of their earlier worry that some persons were trying to sow seed of division.
“Northern Elders Forum (NEF) is concerned over disturbing comments with distinctly religious undertones which are causing anger and fear in the public domain.
“The Forum’s concerns have been compounded by published warnings from the Department of State Security (DSS) over attempts to cause breaches in security and peaceful co-existence through incitement in many parts of the country.
“The Forum invites attention to multiple pressures and stresses under which Nigerians of all faith live.It will be cruel and tragic if communities are set up against each other in the names of their faiths.
“There are no threats to any religion under current circumstances that would justify action which will threaten peace and harmonious co-existence in this country.
“If there are indeed reasons that could be exploited to engineer religious conflicts, the Forum demands that governments deal decisively with them.
“The Forum calls on Nigerians to be wary of mischief makers and subversives whose objectives could be to worsen the difficult circumstances under which Nigerians live today. Muslims and Christians have no reasons to fight each other,” he said.