Ondo catholic attack: Pick up your gun now – HURIWA charges christians

Leading Civil Rights Advocacy Group- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has called on the Christian leaders of Nigeria to introduce their armed and well trained vigilantes to secure their members during worship rather than continue to be wasted by Islamic terrorists who even when they are caught by the security forces would be rehabilitated by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration which is clearly a Pro-Islamic government.

HURIWA called on the leader of Catholics Worldwide, Pope Francis to speak out against the genocides going on against Christians in Nigeria and stop being politically correct. HURIWA blames the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Gutterres who recently visited Nigeria and endorsed the rehabilitation and reintegration of terrorists. We hold all these persons especially the UN responsible for the continuous killings of Christians by Islamic extremists who allegedly get supplies of weapons from their supporters inside of the Nigerian Government.”

HURIWA spoke against the backdrop of the report emerging that Suspected terrorists attacked St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, the headquarters of Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State and also shot sporadically at Worshippers thereby killing over 50 persons.

HURIWA said the Christian leaders have failed to provide good leadership which also involves taking verifiable steps to put in place some measures aimed at securing the lives of the members and the property of the Churches just as the Rights group said the Christians can’t continue to be the weeping child of Nigeria because for years now about seven years now Churches are bombed and worshippers slaughtered but the current administration do nothing to arrest the culprits and even when they are arrested and detained, they will be either aided to escape from Prison by Moslem Prison chiefs or be rehabilitated as repentant terrorists and reintegrate back to the society by Government to continue their terrorist activities. HURIWA also lamented that Christians don’t take matters of their personal security and the corporate security of the Churches as top priorities even when the times are ominous. It is unfortunate that Churches don’t spend qualitative budgets to provide security for their members but rely heavily on the poorly trained and poorly motivated police force that sends only a person with a dysfunctional gun per Church even in Abuja.

According to the right group, emerging reports suggest that many worshippers have died and several others have been left injured following the gun attack at the church which is situated close to the palace of the Olowo of Owo just as government and security forces were yet to give a detailed statement regarding the development.

HURIWA said: “We condemn absolutely the violence unleashed on innocent Christian worshippers in a Catholic Church and wishes to restate our conviction that there is a Jihad against Christians going on with intensity since President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration gave all the top security appointments to only Moslem Northerners of Fulani or Hausa origin and indeed the entire internal security institutions are headed by Hausa/Fulanis”.

“HURIWA said it is even more likely that the government officials are complicit in these attacks because the terrorists are mostly Fulanis sharing same ethnicity and faith with these heads of internal security and there is a convincing possibility that the Islamic terrorists have their supporters embedded in the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and this is why the Justice minister has so far failed to publish the names of sponsors of terrorists in Nigeria and this executive cover is a fiat for Islamists to intensify their attacks against Christians and other soft targets.”

“This Present administration is complicit in all of these terrorist attacks because despite the declaration of Fulani terrorists in Kaduna forests as terrorists by the Federal High Court Abuja, the government and the likes of Sheikh Ahmed Gumi are making case for terrorists and the Federal Government has not gone after them due to favouritism and selfish religious agenda if seeking to destroy Christianity in Nigeria”.

HURIWA also criticised the Oluwo of Owo who was recently embroiled in the spread of hate messages against Igbos which the Rights group said was capable of igniting hatred towards Igbos who are mostly Catholics wherever they reside just as the Rights group has advocated extensive and broad-based investigations to arrest the terrorists and bring them to justice.