President urges all Nigerians to show love to one another

The (CAN) president, Rev. Supo Ayokunle, has some advice for Christians, Muslims and others of different faith.

Speaking at the 50th-anniversary celebration of Ajayi Dahunsi Memorial Baptist Church, Ilasa, Lagos, he urged everyone to love one another, The Guardian reports.

According to him, there is no way Nigeria can be united without love, God's kind of love.

“We need to go back to God’s kind of love. In love, there is no wickedness. There is no hatred. Love binds things together. We should not continue to emphasise things that divide us but things that unite us because we have no other land we call ours. We are to live together. This is not possible except by love", he said.

Ayokunle, who was the guest minister at the event, also addressed the recent killings in Southern Kaduna.

He said that these killings are carried out by known people, adding that these killings are a form of religious cleansing.

In his words, “I saw people from Gidan Waya and Godogodo communities who have been displaced by the Fulani. Their villages have been taken over and the Fulani now live there. We see that as religion cleansing because the people of Godogodo and Gidan Waya are predominantly Christians. The Fulani, who are predominantly Muslims, are armed with guns, yet nobody is arresting them. This is most disturbing. I wonder why the government refers to people it knows as unknown gunmen.

The people that came to visit me on the issue at the National Christian Centre said they know the perpetrators and that they live among them. And when they left for Kaduna, they met seven of their community members in a pool of blood", he added.

The CAN president also called out to the government to do better at protecting its citizens.

“We have a government. It should take action, rather than addressing the issue on television, claiming everything is in order when we know it isn’t. The law enforcement agencies should not look the other way in Kaduna; they should care about the souls wasted daily, because none of them in government or uniform wants to be killed in the same manner. Government is to defend the people, protect them and give them opportunity," he stated.

ALSO READ: CAN calls for concerted efforts to stop killings in Kaduna

On November 25, 2016, at least four people were killed, while several houses were torched in a recent attack on Mile One and Paskori villages in Tafan District, in Jemaa Local Government Area of southern Kaduna State.

Channels Television reports that the attack was carried out by gunmen, who invaded the village and blocked the Jos-Abuja highway, after shooting and burning down houses.