The
President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Dr. Felix Omobude, has
revealed that about 850 churches have been destroyed, with many people
killed and injured through the activities Boko Haram in the northern
part of the country.
Omobude stated this on Tuesday during a visit to the Oyo State
chapter of the association, at the Rehoboth Cathedral, Oluyole Estate,
Ibadan.
He was assisted during the visit by the founder of Sword of the
Spirit Ministries, Bishop Wale Oke; Oyo State chairman of PFN, Bishop
Taiwo Adelakun (of Victory International Church) and other clergies.
While condemning the renewed insurgents’ suicide bombings and other
attacks, coupled with the heavy casualties being recorded, Omobude urged
the Federal Government to rise up to the task of defending the citizens
from the Islamic fundamentalists.
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According
to the clergy, peace would reign in the country when people live
together without the fear of being attacked by a set of individuals. He
however aligned with the approach of the Federal Government to the
dialogue with the sect, if they were ready to embrace peace.
He said, “By my understanding of the government’s position, it is not
that the government is going to beg the insurgents. The war against
them will continue. If they say they want to talk, no government will
turn deaf ears to them.
“We are appealing to our people as well as our leaders to come
together and treat the insurgents as criminals, which they are truly
because nobody can justify the dastardly act of bombing places of
worship.
“The PFN condemns the atrocities of the Islamic sect in all
ramifications. We acknowledge the efforts of the security agencies,
especially since the inauguration of the new government and we appeal to
the government to make the security agents comfortable so as to be able
to concentrate on the task at hand.”
Omobude also appealed to Nigerians to accept displaced victims of the
sect or those who were rescued by security forces back into the
society. He added that the fellowship, in its effort to assist the
victims of Boko Haram across all religious divides, set up an appeal
fund. He said so far, over N40m have been spent on the rehabilitation of
the people.
“I urge everybody around the victims to be their brothers’ keepers, by giving them any assistance necessary,” he said.
He called on Nigerians to be patient with the new government and pray for its success.
Meanwhile, the National Human Right Commission has said that Nigeria
has the third highest number of Internally Displaced Persons in the
world, just behind Syria and Iraq.
The commission noted that security challenges had continued to be one of the greatest threats to the country.
The Chairman of NHRC, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, raised the alarm in Abuja
while delivering a keynote address entitled, “Good governance beyond
2015: Setting agenda for inclusive and sustainable development in an era
of change.”
He said this at the national conference which ended on Tuesday in Abuja.
The event was organised by the United Nations Millennium Campaign,
Millennium Development Goals Office of the Presidency and Open Society
Initiative for West Africa.
According to him, because of the fragility of the state and its
institutions, violence has become a major cause of mortality in Nigeria,
which means that the global idea of the MDGs/sustainable development
goals could be threatened.
Odinkalu said, “Nigeria has the third global population of internal
displacements, behind Syria and Iraq, with the possibility of internally
displaced persons. Reflecting the fragility of the state and its
institutions, violence has become a major cause of mortality in Nigeria,
with the Heidelberg Centre’s annual conflict barometer reporting that
the country was fighting two wars at the end of 2014 – in the North-East
and North-Central respectively in which possibly tens of thousands were
being killed.”
The NHRC’s boss stated that the MDGs and indeed, the wider project of
development were themselves founded on the notions of human rights,
human dignity and equality generally.
He also quoted the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre Global
Overview of 2014, which says that Boko Haram’s ruthless campaign to
establish an independent Islamic state in north-eastern Nigeria also
drove significant new displacement.
“It was responsible for displacing more than three-quarters of, at
least, 975,300 people in the country during the year while many others
fled inter-communal violence in the Middle-Belt region,” the report
stated.
The IDMC report also added that as at the end of 2014, 38 million
people had been forced to flee their homes by armed conflict and
violence in the world. These, the report added, were living in camps
within the borders of their various countries while 11 million people
were newly displaced during the year, the equivalent of 30,000 fleeing
each day.
