1st November, 2014
Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to sack Colonel Sambo Dasuki, the National Security Adviser as well as General Aliyu Gusau, the Minister of Defence over the continuing Boko Haram attacks in Northern part of the country.
The Association said this while condemning recent violent attacks by the insurgents on innocent Christian civilians, Police stations, Prisons and military formations in different parts of Adamawa State in a statement signed by Musa Asake, its Secretary General on Saturday.
The body noted that while recent attacks by Boko Haram in Adamawa State was said to have affected civilians, police stations, prisons and military formations in different parts of the state, the bomb explosion at the Gombe Motor Park was said to have killed over 30 persons and left several others injured.
The umbrella body of Christians in the country maintained that the recent happenings in the North East part of the country had avidly confirmed CAN’s position all along that the Islamic group has no other mission than to annihilate all Christians in the region and install an Islamic regime.
This, according to CAN was because apart from the military infrastructure that were torched by the terrorist group, Ekklesiyar Yan’uaw a Nigeria (EYN), the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, other churches as well as individuals targeted for destruction were all Christians and their places of worship.
CAN therefore asked the Federal Government to explain to the nation the sins committed by the former National Security Adviser, late Gen. Owoeye Azazi who was summarily dismissed in June 2012. Was he sacked because of his Christian religion and to satisfy the cravings of his Muslim counterparts?
Continuing, Asake argued, that the President appointed a Muslim, Col. Sambo Dasuki to replace Gen. Azazi who was a Christian and later appointed another Muslim, Gen. Aliyu Gasau as Defence minister with a pledge to deal ruthlessly with the Boko Harām Islamic terrorists.
“The major task handed down to Col. Dasuki and Gen. Gusau is to tackle Boko Haram insurgency, which was already threatening to spread into other regions of the country.
But the Association said every Nigerian Christian today is asking about the changes have these two military tacticians brought to bear in the war against terror since they were appointed.
“What is the wisdom of entrusting the nation’s security in the hands of two relations from the North West?
“Why have these two relations from Sokoto and Zamfara states not changed their tactics in accordance with the presidential mandate given to them to root out the insurgents in the North East geo-political zone?
“Is this a game plan to eliminate people in that region and put them in perpetual subjugation?” CAN queried.
According to the CAN general secretary, Nigerian Christians are no longer comfortable with the continued inclusion of these two individuals in the cabinet even as the Islamic terrorists have not only changed tactics severally but have conquered more territories and established more caliphates in the North East during their regime than at any other period.
CAN said it wondered why the NSA and the Defence minister have not voluntarily resigned their appointments for poor coordination of relevant agencies to tackle the security challenges in the North East region of the country despite the huge budgetary allocations for the purpose.