Noah Ebije, Kaduna
As Sunday Sunday indoor protest against killings in Southern Kaduna entered week two this Sunday, the Protesters spit fire and rained curses on gunmen and selfish leaders that have put several communities into mourning in the last few months.
A good number of Christian Protesters, wearing black attires, from different denominations under the auspices of Kaduna State chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had on August 2, set aside four weeks to continue to pray and rain curses against the perpetrators of the killings.
They would continue to wear black attires every Sunday throughout the month of August to protest against the killings of their kinsmen in southern Kaduna.
The protest from day one was tagged, “Prayer/Indoor Protest on Southern Kaduna Killings”.
Tears flew freely down the cheeks of several members of the congregation when a video clip of a survivor of the attacks was shown, narrating how she escaped from gunmen in of the attacks in the area.
Speaking at this Sunday indoor protest, President of HEKAN Church, world-wide, Reverend Amos Kiri called on the federal and Kaduna State governments to save the lives of the people of Southern Kaduna and Nigerians in general.
Reverend Kiri said, “All we are saying to government is to save the lives of the people of Southern Kaduna and Nigerians in general over these killings.
“Both the federal and State governments must listen to our cry carefully. Insensitive government and leaders of Nigeria should wake up from their slumber, from their comfort zone and rescue the people without discrimination of helping Mr. A and abandoning Mr. B in similar pains and agony. It is an injustice.
“Government who does not care for our people does not deserve to be called government. What is good for Jacob is also good for Esau.
“The lives of our people are being wasted everyday in the North East. So also they are being wasted in Southern Kaduna. These killers are coming closer every where.
“I want to challenge our Christian brothers in government to show their identity and refuse to be quiet, but speak out against the killings.
“The church is the voice of the voice less, if church is silent everybody will go down the drainage. God will fight out battle for us.
“We are not here for government to appease us, far from it. Shame on our betrayals”.
Some of the prayer points included, “God will ambush our attackers in Southern Kaduna, Jesus will stand up for us, among others.
In his closing remarks, the State CAN Chairman, Reverend Joseph Hayab called on governor Nasir El-rufai to protect everybody irrespective of tribe and religion.
He called on all Christian leaders not to keep quiet over the killings but to speak out, saying, “we cannot see evils and keep quiet, and God will continue to help us”.
Reverend Hayab also advised Governor Nasir El-rufai to visit the affected communities to show them one on one empathy, pointing out that embarking on a trip to another land while the State was on fire did not speak well of government’s commitment to the safety of the people.