From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Benue State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Apken Leva has strongly condemned last Sunday’s killing of worshippers in Ondo State, describing the incidence as barbaric and satanic.
Leva stated this while reacting to the Sunday’s attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owa-Luwa area of Owo in Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State, by armed men suspected to be herdsmen, in which about 50 worshippers were said to have been killed and many others injured.
In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Tyav, the CAN Chairman said recent attacks, abductions and killings in the country were a clear indication that the country is heading towards anarchy.
He posited that Nigerian leaders, starting from the President, have lost focus and no longer in firm grip of the glaring challenges of the country particularly the security challenges, adding that the attacks and killings in the last one month alone have exposed how incapable Nigerian leaders are.
The CAN Chairman therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari not to wait till May 29, 2023 to hand over to another Nigerian but to resign with immediate effect together with his security chiefs to give way for another Nigerian who is capable of handling the daunting challenges of the country to take over from him.
He said this became necessary since the President and his security chiefs have not been able to handle the security situation in the country which according to him was degenerating from bad to worse every minute despite the oath he took to protect the lives and property of the people.
The Benue CAN Chairman noted that the continued killings of Nigerians in whatever guise with only mere political statements from the presidency would no longer be tolerated as Nigerians want action and not rhetorics from their leaders.
Leva who attributed it to the handiwork of the enemies of the nation, said no Nigerian was safe any longer wherever he resides.
The CAN Chairman said the crime of the worshippers who were massacred in Ondo remained that they were Nigerians as the attackers were said to have stormed the church and shot their victims while the mass was said to have still been on.
While he prayed God to console the families of the victims, the Christian community in Ondo and the entire Christians in Nigeria, Leva also called on security agencies to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to book to serve as a deterrent to others.
He also urged all Christians to be vigilant to identify attackers in their localities even as he called on them to go to God in prayers for His divine intervention to stop this incessant attacks, abductions and killings of innocent Nigerians stressing that nothing was too big for God to do.