ECWA President, Rev. Stephen Baba.
By M. Peter, Jos.
The federal government has been tasked to protect lives and property of citizens by arresting and prosecuting criminals who killing people in Southern area of Kaduna State.
The tier of government was also urged to ensure justice and, compensate all the victims who lost their means of livelihood as the result of activities of bandits who are terrorising the people.
These were the views of the leadership of the Evangelical Church Winning All, ECWA during its 67th annual General Church Council, GCC meeting, held in Jos, the Plateau State capital.
READ : PDP elects Udo Ekpenyong as new state chairman in Akwa Ibom
The Council also frowned at the failure of the Federal Government to secure the release of the only Christian girl Leah Sharibu (who was abducted by Boko Haram among many female students of Government Secondary School, Dapchi Yobe State), Alice Loksha, a Christian nurse doing humanitarian service in Borno State, Grace Lucas, Lillian Gyang, and the remaining Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram and observed with dismay the resources being committed to the supposed deradicalization and rehabilitation of the so-called repentant Boko Haram fighters by the military, while millions of their victims are still languishing in deplorable IDP camps, stating this not the best use of tax payers’ money and indeed a “complete misplacement of priority.”
According to a communique issued at the end of the meeting and jointly signed by ECWA President, Rev. Stephen Baba and Secretary General, Rev. Yunusa Nmadu, the Council condemned in strong terms what its termed the mindless killing of the indigenous Christians in Southern Kaduna over the past few weeks which they said has assumed a genocidal magnitude.
Advertisement.
The communique reads in part, “The Council notes with grief the several attacks on Southern Kaduna Christian communities, which are the strongholds of ECWA , where over 120 persons including infants and women have been killed in the last two weeks alone, with scores injured and thousands displaced from their villages and farmlands by arm Fulani militia without any care from the Kaduna state and Federal Government. No responsible government would want to be perceived as holding brief for terrorists, unless it is complicit. It advocates for a stronger collaboration between the government, the security agencies, and the entire populace to make for robust and rapid response for the protection of human lives and property.”
On social justice and equity, the General Council said has been following the revelations of the reckless looting of public funds and re-looting of recovered funds while public infrastructure and basic amenities lie in ruins, and Nigeria’s debt profile skyrockets in astronomical proportions. Likewise, the distribution of appointments to public offices and resources that is skewed in favour of only a section of country goes contrary to the provision of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
READ ALSO : Adhere to COVID-19 protocols until vaccine is available, Dr. Dakum tells Nigerians
The Council calls on the government to ensure accountability, prudence and transparency in management of resources, eschew sectionalism, and be weary of unbridled indebtedness to foreign governments, especially those whose loan terms threaten our sovereignty as a nation.
The 67th ECWA General Council also confirmed the creation of two additional District Church Councils(DCCs) namely, Kaduna-East DCC carved out of the Kasuwan Magani DCC and Bauchi- South DCC from Bauchi DCC. With this two additional DCCs, ECWA worldwide now has a total of 88 DCCs.
