We’re Not Surprised By Lai Mohammed’s Lie – CAN

By Segun Adebayo

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Tuesday described statement credited to Minister of information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, where he was quoted to have alleged that religious leaders were behind provocative statements as complete falsehood.
According to a press statement signed by Adebayo Oladeji, who is the media aide to the CAN President, Rev Samson Ayokunle, “We are disappointed but not surprised with the disparaging, lies and abusive statements credited to the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in Ilorin during the Town hall meeting where he was accusing religious leaders of making alleged provocative statements that can lead to religious war.
The Minister, according to CAN, was quoted to have said, “…Such fallacies like the Islamization of Nigeria, the killing of Christians by Muslims, the labeling of Nigeria as the most dangerous place for Christians in the world can only serve one purpose: trigger a religious war. Needless to say that no nation ever survives a religious war.
“Those who are making these allegations know that they are not true, but they have found in religion another tool to demonize the government of the day, divert attention from the government’s anti-corruption stance and create undue tension in the polity…”
Disagreeing with Mohammed over dismissing the Islamisation agenda for Nigeria, CAN declared, “We want to boldly declare that Nigerian Christians love their country and they not only promote peace and unity but also always pray for her and the leadership. In the last one year, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has declared fasting and prayers for Nigeria and her leadership twice. If we are thirsty for a war, we wouldn’t have gone that far.
“Is Lai Mohammed accusing of us of telling lies:
*That our members are being killed, maimed and burnt by the Boko Haram terrorists in the Northeast?
*That our members are being killed by the Fulani herdsmen in Plateau, Benue and now Southern Kaduna states?
*That those responsible for these killings profess Islam as their religion?
*That those who killed Madam Bridget Agbahime in Kano were Muslims, who were arrested but later discharged and acquitted by the court as requested by the State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice?
*That those who killed Madam Eunice Elisha Olawale while doing the morning preaching in Kubwa, Abuja were Muslim fundamentalists who were arrested but also freed by the Police?
“Is Lai Mohammed telling us that no Christian was killed by the Fulani herdsmen who invaded the Southern Kaduna, killed and maimed our members and razed down their communities recently? Is Mohammed saying the Fulani herdsmen who have been killing our members are not armed with sophisticated weapons and is it wrong for us to ask where they get the AK-47 and other weapons they are using?
“When all those killings were going on in Plateau, Benue and Southern Kaduna, was there any time Lai Mohammed or anyone in the Federal Government raised a voice against the atrocities?
“If those murderous Fulani herdsmen are faceless, how come the Sultan of Sokoto is claiming that they are not Nigerians and in another instance, the Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai said they had been paid for the “wrong done to them’’? Why is it that whenever these murderers are perpetrating their atrocities, the security agencies look elsewhere until their victims decided to fight back? Is it because the security agencies are Muslim dominated? CAN says No to disparaging remarks in the name of politics”