They have made sacrifice for too long. Now, their position is, enough is enough. Read about Northern States Christian Elders Forum’s, NOSCEF, grouse and present collective resolve.

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

Their faces showed mourning. Pain, sorrow and anguish had been their companions for years. They had been helpless and hapless. And so, in their numbers, they came. Some in their jeeps. Some in their smaller vehicles but many in chartered buses and some on foot to answer the clarion call.

One needed not to be told who they were. Their dressing styles, which showed an elevated predilection of flowing gowns otherwise called “Agbada”, coupled with the inscriptions on most of the buses that conveyed them into the arena, said it loud. They were men and women, old and young who had come from across the 19 northern states of Nigeria to Abuja. Amongst them were traditional rulers, businessmen, a former military administrator, activists and, of course, clerics.

Day was Tuesday, July 1, 2014. Venue was the National Ecumenical Center, which also houses the national secretariat of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the mission was to seek help to stop the careless murder of their kith and kin, albeit forcefully, in the North.

They have a common enemy: Boko Haram. Take all the political offices in the region, brand them minorities, deny their children admission in public secondary schools and the universities which they alleged is their lot presently; you won’t be hurting them.

But deny them the sacred, inalienable right of worshiping their God or burn their places of worship or execute a systematic elimination plan, you will surely be inviting the ire of a people. Before, they were in deep slumber, but now, they said they woken up and all the “violence” being meted to them has got to stop. Even now.

Indeed, every speech made at the event evoked a spasm of emotions which cast deep aspersions on the gruesome murder of their men and women as speaker after speaker bemoaned the horrendous situation and x-rayed the future of an average Christian northerner in Nigeria.

According to them, more than 2,000 of their fellow northern Nigerians have been murdered this year alone. This excludes the last two years not mentioning the injuries suffered by many, and then, the inestimable number of property destroyed.

Now, you can understand the lamentation and anger of a people who have now declared that ‘enough is enough’. To them, it is no more time to continue to be deluded by the patronages of a government which has seemingly failed them or shy away from the harsh realities of the times but time to fear less and speak out.

That was the mood of the house that Tuesday afternoon.

It is time to speak out against violence

— NOSCEF chairman

The words of the National Chairman of NOSCEF, Mr. Olaiya Phillips: “I want to take this opportunity to talk about the challenges facing our community; how NOSCEF can respond to help our Christian brothers and sisters; and how with your help we can truly make a difference. We have come together at a difficult time for our community.

“NOSCEF was formed to provide a strong voice and powerful vehicle for the Northern Christain community. That voice and vehicle are needed now more than ever. In this year alone, more than 2,000 of our fellow northern Nigerians have been murdered.

On an almost daily basis, we have been both shocked and appalled to learn of yet more callous acts of violence committed against innocent members of our community and against our innocent Muslims neighbors and friends. Both communities have lost fathers, sons and brothers, sisters, daughters and mothers. We join the world in saying, Boko Haram Bring Back Our girls!

“But for our two communities-Christian and Muslim-too many of out friends and families are lost forever, murdered by the butchers of Boko Haram, never to return.

“Like those massacred when insurgents attacked St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church in Waga Chakawa, in Adamawa State. Those slaughtered when Boko Haram attacked the village of Barder, Borno State, posing as pastors there to preach the Gospel. Or those killed by Islamic extremists in the town of Wukari, Taraba State as they attempted to attend their usual Sunday morning service.

“Our prayers are for relief of the suffering of all the victims of this per-ni-cious persecution and their families, and for peace for our community in the year ahead. We have waited too long for justice, equality and safety to be provided for our community. In such times of desperate need from our community-our community needs a plan of action.

It is time to stand up and speak out. It is time we stood and spoke out-about the importance of religious values and the religious freedoms of our people. Time we stood up and spoke out-about the importance of protecting minorities from persecution. Time we stood up and spoke out-about the provision of equal access to education, healthcare and justice for all Nigerians. Time we stood up and spoke out-about preserving the secular state and the integrity of the nation. And it is time to take a stand and speak out for our young people, so they are given opportunities to access jobs by investing in northern infrastructure and businesses.

“For if we do not stand up and speak out for our community now, who will?  Who will raise the cries of those Northern Christians’ suffering above the proclamations of politicians and columns inches of Journalists? Who will keep the pressure on the Government to deliver justice for the families who have lost loved ones, business and homes? Who will make sure the military finds the hundreds of missing young Northern girls-kidnapped and taken into the jungle to face unspeakable torment? That burden falls to us, and we must all be willing to bear it. We must be the ones to stand up and speak out.

“This is a terrible price to be paid for silence in the face of violence; for apathy in the face of oppression; and for indifference in the face of injustice. It is precisely because we refuse to stay silent, refuse to walk by on the other side, that NOSCEF was set up.

NOSCEF stands up for the values of fairness, equality and justice for all Nigerians, irrespective of their tribe, religion, creed or political affiliation. NOSCEF speaks out for the Northern Christain community. NOSCEF shoulders the responsibility to be a powerful voice and a powerful vehicle for peace and positive change. That is why today, we present you with NOSCEF’s “Voice Against Violence’ Charter. By standing up and speaking out, we will make the voices of Northern Christians heard.”

Northern Muslim leaders must break silence

—CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor

The events wouldn’t have ended without the presence and contribution of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the National President of CAN. He stole the event, calling on northern Muslim leaders to act.

“There are Christians who have tried to be Vice Chancellors, who are qualified but cannot be because they are Christians. Yea, they are from the north but they are Christians. Now, as we speak, how many people in the world know that these Chibok girls we are talking about, probably 90 percent of them are Christians? How many people in the world know that there are Christian Kanuris, Christian Fulanis, Hausas, people don’t know.

I didn’t know for a long time until they came to visit me officially. My heart broke when they began to tell me of their experiences in this our great countries called Nigeria. And interestingly, it is not only in Abuja they have been going through all these but from their own local environment from the state right down to the local environment,” he said.

The CAN leader continued: “How many people are aware that most of the people they kill in Adamawa, Taraba, in some of these states are Christians?

Having said that, let me say that I believe in the unity of Nigeria. I believe that Christians and Muslims must work together. But I believe that truth is the foundation for any relationship that will blossom and be strong. Nigeria will not be strong until we are prepared to face the truth and deal with issues the way they are.

“I heard someone the day saying we don’t know what Boko Haram wants. I don’t know what people mean by that. How can you be telling me you don’t know what they want? Begin with their name. Their name is not Boko Haram.

Their real name says that they are propagating the message of the Prophet and Jihad. The last word in their name is “Jihad”. They are out to establish an Islamic state. They have declared it more then 100 times. That is what they are after. Let me say this to you, probably you will understand where I am coming from. I love my Muslim brothers with all my heart.

“I tell you a story all the time about 9 to 10 years ago, there was an incident somewhere in the North. I can’t remember where. A lot of my Igbo brothers were slaughtered and so, their corpses were returned home, most of them to Onitsha and so, the Onitsha were so pained that they started moving into the areas where these Muslim northerners lived.

A lot of them had to cross the Niger bridge to Asaba. I am from Delta State. I heard of it from Warri. I got a van loaded with relief materials and drove to Asaba and looked for these Muslims and finally found them. I gave them relief materials. I gave them money.

Then I apologized to them. We are usually not like this. I am so sorry for whatever that has happened to you. I talked with them, encouraged them. We cried together and some of them still remember me. Sometime they visit me. And I have sat back, first of all, is that a man who hates Muslims? No. I don’t. I just like the truth. That’s all.

“And I have sat back and wondered. How many of my Muslims friends and leaders have taken time to go to these Christians who are being slaughtered. By the way, I hope that the first, two, three years of Boko Haram, it was Christians they were hitting and no body seems to emphasize that. It was in the last one year that they have branched out. But in the first year, they concentrated on Christians. At a point, they even said all Christians should leave the North; even the indigenous Christians were being wiped out. It has become like ethnic cleansing.

“But in the last one year, there are two categories of Muslims that they have also been killing. One: those who don’t believe in their doctrine who say it is a wrong doctrine. And so, they go after them; clerics who preach against what they are teaching. And there are those who have been killed because they feel they are informants. They go to a village and wipe it out because they are angry with the village or the villagers for giving out information.

“Talking specifically about Boko Haram, if we want to end Boko Haram, one of the most important steps is that we as Nigerians must face the truth that the underlying factor of Boko Haram is religion. It is an ideology. We must accept that fact. As long as we run away from that and give it any other name, we will never solve the problem. Don’t tell me it is poverty because it is never. Don’t tell me it is political because it is basically not. Politicians are taking advantage of it. So, if it is an ideology, there must be a superior ideology and that brings me to the second thing.

“I am not against dialogue. What I am saying is that the people that must dialogue are the Muslims religious leaders, Muslim traditional rulers and Muslim political leaders. These people must come together. They must sit down and raise a superior ideology and take it to the grassroots because a lot of them still believe in this nation called Nigeria.

They must begin to tell their people that this nation is good for all of us. But they must raise up clerics because these mad men still have clerics they believe in that they trust and work with. They must locate those clerics and encourage them to engage these boys. They love to sit and discuss the Koran. So, they must begin to show them the error in what they are teaching because an ideology cannot be wiped out just by bullet.

“I want thank God for what NOSCEF stands for. We will work with you and make sure that our people are covered. Our people in the North are exposed. Christians are vulnerable. We must look for ways to protect them, to cover them, help them.”

A northern cleric and National Secretary of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, Rev. Emmanuel Kure, in his charge to traditional rulers, said:

“We need to begin to answer back in defence not to just sit back until everybody has been slaughtered. It is time, as we seek peace, to draw the boundaries so that we are not completely taken. There will be nobody to rule when all your people are killed.”

Governor  Liyel Imoke of Cross River State was also at the event. Represented by his Special Assistant on Religious Matters, Mr. Eyoh Okpueni, he had this to say:

“The honest and inalienable truth is that the country is in a crucible. Nigeria in the year of its centenary has seen a big of terrorist activities not witnessed since the birth of our beloved nation.

The frequency,intensity and veracity of the attacks which have raved various parts of northern Nigeria even here in our capital have sort to also decimate our unity and for some even our sustainability as a sovereign nation. Although these attempts have been made largely futile. They have called into question the cohesion of some of our communities which hitherto had enjoyed sustainable peace and stability regardless of religious attachment.

“What we really face is an ideological battle. It is contest of approach rather than conflict of religions. Boko haram astounding principle is based on a proposed antagonism to western education but the fundamental flaw in this notion is that they lack a plausible alternative.”

In his keynote address, the representative of the Bishop of Canterbury, Rev. Toby Howarth, who is also the Secretary for Inter-Religious Affairs for the Church of England, told the body not to give up their faith in God.

Our position

—Traditional rulers

The event attracted some traditional rulers among whom Maiwada Galadima, Adara Chiefdom, Kaduna State and Emmanuel Elayo, Osanna Keana, Nasarawa State. Both of them had their turns.

Galadima said: “By this forum, I want to assure us that we will be able to play our roles as human beings. And this forum will highlight the role we need to play.

I didn’t know exactly the effect of all that was happening. All along, I have been attaching it to political reasons. But, today, I believe it is purely religious. And we must stand and fight if we must defend our religion.

On his own, Elayo said: “Why do Christians have to fear? Fear for what? We cannot have a bigger and important Muslim in the North better than the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, a former Premier of Northern Nigeria, a region that is now 19 states ruled by 19 governors. He was alone and he ruled all. They planned for Sharia, he said no. We have to distinguish God’s fearing leaders and godless leaders.”.

Charter

The highlight of the event was the endorsement of a charter. The charter is the creed of NOSCEF. It serves as a collective resolve in the pursuit of peace and the protection of northern Christians.

A member of the group,  Dr. Ango, speaks more on the charter: “This charter is significance for three main reasons. It is a clarifying call to action. This charter clarifies what we expect the state and federal governments to provide for northern Christian community.

It also defines the demands we make here today and will continue to make hereafter. Secondly, it is a tool to build awareness and encourage others to add their voice against violence. We are asking others to do so by adding their signature to this charter. We are in a stronger position to demand that our governments take steps that have lasting impact.

Thirdly, it provides a central and focal point for our campaign as encapsulate in our message. We are working to ensure the safety and security of the northern Christian community and by projecting these interests accurately and clearly guarantee northern Christians voices will be heard, their interests respected, their rights protected. Please, add your voice against violence. Sign up the charter.”