The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has appealed to Christians to always respect the doctrines of people of other faith, emphasizing the need for all religious institutions to engage their congregations more efficiently in religious education.
The national president of CAN, Dr Samson Ayokunle while speaking on The Morning Show on Arise TV, Monday, said students should be taught to report issues to relevant authorities or law enforcement agencies.
He said, “There’s a need for religious education so you know what people of other faith around you don’t want and you respect them. If there’s the mutual respect in this nation, there will be peace. Don’t take unilateral offence toward anybody that has offended you. Report it appropriately. This is a civilized society. This is not the stone age.
“To the best of my knowledge, I didn’t see the name of any religious leaders being mentioned in all the documents I got from our people in Sokoto, who are Christians.”
“Killing that lady and setting her ablaze is one action, too many and it should not be allowed in the guise of any religion to take place again. And I want to warn some religious leaders, who are saying there needs to be a redline.
“In a country where we have democracy, if there’s a red line for you, report it appropriately and let the law enforcement agencies handle it, while I’m also appealing to every Christian to respect other religious groups around you,” he said.
Noting that nobody has the right to take unilateral action to terminate the life of another human being, Ayokunle said, “If we have been talking to our government and they have not been able to take decisive action in bringing the culprits to book, then the entire world needs to hear. We’ll need to appeal to the international community to help Nigerian Christians.
Describing the Deborah incident as annoying and barbaric, the cleric said nobody has a monopoly on the environment, saying, “If some people are doing this and going scot-free as if it’s the Banana Republic, the State of lawlessness may set in eventually.”