Bukar Ibrahim, who is now a senator, also insisted that the
reason for the action of the sect was inequality, neglect and injustice.
Pastor Oritsejafor described the statement by the senator as
“overly reckless, irresponsible and insensitive”, and noted that it was capable
of encouraging the increasingly violent sect to be even more daring.
In a press release signed by his Media aide, Mr Kenny Ashaka,
yesterday, in Abuja, the CAN president said that it was naïve for Senator
Ibrahim to reason that if the Federal Government dialogued with Boko Haram, the
sect would limit itself to concessions made even when they had stated that
their aim was to do away with western education and enthrone the Islamic law of
Sharia’a.
Oritsejafor advised Senator Bukar Ibrahim not to make
recommendations that were short-sighted and avoid taking counsel from only a
section of a state or region.
The CAN president said that he expected Senator Bukar Ibrahim to
help put the sect in strict subjection to the laws of the land, rather than
treading the dangerous path of dialogue which has always been truncated by
harsh conditions from the sect members.
According to him, Senator Ibrahim must bear a heavy
responsibility for the spiraling violence of Boko Haram against Christians in
Yobe State if he now speaks of inequality, neglect and injustice, which were
direct consequences of the neglect of the people by those who govern them,
himself a two-time governor of Yobe State, inclusive.
“If, today, the people are fighting biting poverty, inequality
and injustice as Senator Ibrahim would want us to believe, it is his likes that
should be held responsible for being the sources of their poverty. In that
case, Boko Haram’s anger should have been directed at leaders like Senator
Bukar Ibrahim who had not allowed his people to take full advantage of the vast
economic opportunities that exist in Northern Nigeria.
“It is hypocritical for Senator Bukar Ibrahim to now make the
country and her citizens to pay a heavy price for their ineptitude. In fact,
apart from the extremist ideology of Boko Haram, I am tempted to believe that
Senator Ibrahim’s statement is also a confirmation that the increasing violence
in the north is a sponsored revolt to pressure the Federal Government into
making huge regional concessions.
“The Federal Government should, therefore, not succumb to
blackmail from any quarters on account of the Boko Haram issue but should
remain focused in dealing with the sect members in accordance with the laws of
the land. It is worrisome that a Senator of the status of Ibrahim rather than
pursue a secularist ideology on which the survival and stability of this
country depends, is giving an advice that favours Boko Haram, a sect that
has killed many Christians, bombed and burnt Churches. I am shocked that Senator
Ibrahim is not worried by the growing killings of Christians in his home state,
Yobe, where five Christians, including their pastor were killed on Christmas
day.
“Few days after these killings and burning of 20 houses, Senator
Ibrahim is only concerned with government’s dialogue with the sect members.
“I believe that elders in the north, especially those in the
North East zone hold the key to the cessation of violence in the region and
should begin to discuss how to end the unprovoked attacks on Christians and
their Churches,” Oritsejafor said.
Source: Leadership
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