Treat Killer Herdsmen As Boko Haram, Cleric Tells FG

BY AMOS TAUNA, KADUNA – President of the United Church of Christ in Nigeria (HEKAN), Reverend Amos Kiri, has called on the Federal Government to apply the same measures it used in dislodging Boko Haram on killer herdsmen murdering innocent Nigerians.
He noted that they are attacking and killing innocent people across the country, stressing that treating these herdsmen killers with kid gloves was an injustice to Boko Haram members who faced full military bombardment.
Rev. Kiri made the call in Kaduna on Sunday, while addressing the congregation on the occasion of 51st annual convention of the church, with the theme, ‘Restoration.’
He lamented that the country had suffered enough casualties in the hands of the herdsmen, adding that they deserved same punitive measures with that given to Boko Haram.
He explained that the succeeding war on Boko Haram terrorists should be sustained by the Federal Government, stressing that killings by both herdsmen and the insurgents must be stopped.
The cleric used the occasion to thank God for granting President Muhammadu Buhari recovery after his sojourn in London for medical attention, adding that the church would continue to pray to God to grant the President good health as he runs the affairs of the country.
According to him, “The continuous killings by herdsmen across the length and breadth of this country are a thing of great concern to all peace loving Nigerians. May I urge the Federal Government to use the same massive attacks used by the combined efforts of the gallant armed forces of Nigeria in dislodging Boko Haram from Sambisa forest on the herdsmen who are attacking and killing innocent Nigerians.
“This country has suffered enough from the hands of the herdsmen. The succeeding war on the Boko Haram terrorists should be sustained. The killing must be stopped. Government should provide adequate security for the returnees from IDP camps to avoid unwanted killings. Government must not fail in this responsibility.”
Reverend Kiri also called on the Federal Government to bring palliative measures to cushion the hardship Nigerians were going through as a result of the ongoing economic recession in the country, just as he advised that government should intensify efforts to revive most of the closed industries in order to provide employment for the army of unemployed youths across the country.
The HEKAN President commended the efforts of Kaduna State Government in finding lasting solution to recent crisis in Southern Kaduna. To this end, he called on the State government to ensure that those behind the killings were made to face the full wrath of the law of the land, adding, “We as a church, we are ready to make Kaduna State a better place to live again. This is a task that we must all embrace, regardless of our religious or ethnic bearings.”