Condemnations have continued to trail the tweet and
retweet by a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir
el-Rufai, on Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene.
In separate interviews with SUNDAY PUNCH, the Church of
Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and Methodist Church advised that el-Rufai should
be rebuked seriously.
The religious leaders warned that the
remark could set the country on fire.
Despite his earlier apology, el-Rufai
had retweeted: To those who see clearly, whose minds are not clouded by sheer
religiosity, there is nothing insulting about the tweet.”
The General Secretary of the
Christian Association of Nigeria, Dr. Musa Asake, also said the former minister
should be brought “to justice on account of his incitement and insult against
the Christian faith.”
“With this retweet, CAN believes that
El-Rufai is set on a war path with the millions of Christians in Nigeria. We
must state that unlike others, Christians do not shed blood, take life, kill or
maim others at the slightest provocation,” he said.
Similarly, the Prelate of the
Anglican Church, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, urged leaders of Islamic
organisations in the country including the Sultan of Sokoto, to “call el-Rufai
to order before he oversteps his bounds.”
Okoh said the Muslim community must
prevail on el-Rufai to desist from making derogatory remarks about Christianity
to avoid retaliatory responses from Christians.
He said if the Muslim community
didn’t want anything derogatory to be said about them, then their members
should not make such comments about other people’s faith.
Also, the Prelate of the Methodist
Church of Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Makinde, said el-Rufai needed prayers.
“Father, forgive him for he knows not what he is doing,” he said.
He added that Christians would not
judge el-Rufai for insulting their sensibilities.
Source: Punch
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