Xtian, muslim leaders parley with Kaduna governor

Gov. Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State on Saturday met with Christian and Muslim leaders to discuss the protracted crisis in the state.

Yakowa met with the religious leaders shortly after a similar meeting with political stakeholders.

He disclosed that the meeting agreed that the state should reintroduce the moribund strike force to deal with youth restiveness.  

The State Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Samuel Kujiyat, said the forum was designed to discuss the crisis that erupted after the Sunday attacks on three churches in the state.

Reprisals  after the attacks led to many deaths and injuries as well as the destruction of  property by angry youths.

Kujiyat said every measure must be taken by the religious leaders to ensure peace  and avoid anything that could cause a fresh crisis.

He said the time had come for the people, Muslims and Christians, to tell each other the truth and stop the “murderous hatred between the Southern Kaduna people and the people in the Northern part of the state”.The chairman urged the adherents of both faiths to destroy the monster that was leading them to fight each other.

On his part, the State Chairman of Jamaatul Nasril Islam (JNI), Alhaji Jafaru Makarfi, appealed to Islamic  clerics to embrace peace and preach same to the youths to ensure an end to the  crisis.Makarfi blamed youth restiveness on politicians, who abandoned the youth after elections.

He also blamed part of the crisis on the poor upbringing of children by parents.

He urged Muslim leaders to use all legitimate means to ensure peaceful co-existence among Christians and Muslims.The JNI chairman called on the state government to relax the curfew in the state to enable innocent citizens to go about their normal businesses.He advised the state government to convene a meeting with all the politicians for frank talks among themselves.