Reverend Supo Ayokunle, President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, has begged President Muhammadu Buhari to prevent the execution of five Christians sentenced to death by a court in Adamawa for killing a herdsman.
Ayokunle also warned the Nigerian Army against recruiting repented Boko haram members.
He gave this warning on Tuesday in response to reports of plans by the Federal Government to recruit ex-Boko haram members into the Army and the Police force.
Saying that CAN was disturbed by the report, Ayokunle called on the Federal government to rescind the directive if true, saying the move is capable of compromising the nation’s security.
Condemning the death sentence passed on five Christians who were accused of killing a Fulani herdsman, he said: “According to reports, Justice Abdul-Azeez Waziri of a High Court in Adamawa State recently sentenced Alex Amos, Alheri Phanuel, Holy Boniface, Jerry Gideon and Jari Sabagi to death for culpable homicide.
“The convicts were said to have, allegedly on June 1, 2017, at Adamun village in Demsa Local Government Area ‘willfully and intentionally conspired and attacked three herdsmen rearing cattle, killing one of them, Adamu Buba, whose body they threw into a river and also maimed several cows.
“While CAN is not supporting jungle justice or any criminality, we note with regret how hundreds of our members in Southern Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, Plateau states in the north-central geo-political zones, and a state like Enugu in the South, have been killed and are still being killed on a daily basis by some criminals parading themselves as Fulani herdsmen, but are yet to be apprehended.
“Despite the outrage that had trailed the killings of Christians in Nigeria, it is disheartening that none of the killers has been brought to justice. We are shocked at the speed of light deployed by security and judicial officers in sentencing the alleged killers of the herdsman in Adamawa state.”
Decrying the treatment of Christians in the region, he asked: “Why did the court discharge the alleged killers of Madam Bridget Agbahime on the orders of the Kano State Government? Why have security officials not arrested those behind the killings of Christians in Southern Kaduna, while those arrested for the murder of Mrs. Eunice Elisha Olawale in Kubwa, Abuja, have been set free by the Nigeria Police?’’
“We recall with sadness how President Donald Trump had expressed sadness over killings of Christians in Nigeria and even told President Muhammadu Buhari, when he recently visited the White House in Washington DC, that the United States of America would no longer tolerate a situation where Christians awee being killed with impunity.”
Calling on Buhari to come to the aide of the Christian youth, CAN said that it had contacted its legal team to secure and study the text of the judgement with a view to preventing a miscarriage of justice and a future recurrence.
