Don’t push southern Kaduna people into self-defence, Onaiyekan warns govt

John Onaiyekan, a cardinal and Catholic archbishop of Abuja diocese, has warned the Kaduna state government against a situation where people take the laws into their hands.

Commenting on the outbreak of violence in southern Kaduna, Onaiyekan said everyone has a right to self-defence when there is no alternative.

The crisis in the region made the administration of Nasir el-Rufai, governor of the state, impose a 24-hour curfew in three local government areas.

Despite the curfew, there were still reports of killings.

In an interview with PUNCH, Onaiyekan said the government should not allow Nigerians, whether Muslims or Christians, get to a stage were they could no longer rely on government for protection.

“I foresee a situation where those who have been badly damaged and who are being killed daily will be saying, ‘I cannot sit here and be killed’ and they will organise themselves, not because they are Christians but because they are human beings, who cannot sit down and allow themselves to be killed,” he said.

“If we put it in Christian terms, then we are making religion responsible and religion is not responsible. If religion is made to be responsible, it means then that we bishops are organising crusades to buy guns and distribute them to the people.

“Everybody has a right to self-defence when they are left without any alternative. This is why we are warning the government that they should not allow people to reach a stage where they can no longer count on government to protect them and this has nothing to do with whether you are a Christian or a Muslim.

“If, for example, the Christian community in southern Kaduna has lost confidence in government, they will not respond to any invitation from Governor el-Rufai who is a Muslim and who is seen as Muslim and a Fulani, and not as their governor.”

Onaiyekan said the Catholic church was the most affected in southern Kaduna because “the Catholic Church is very strong in the Kafanchan area”.

He said the crisis may have not been well presented to President Muhammadu Buhari, hence his silence.

“There are a lot of issues to deal with in Nigeria: economic, climate change, diplomatic relations, Boko Haram and then somebody brings a file on southern Kaduna and it depends on how the person who brings it presents it and it is possible that Mr. President can sit there and not know how bad the situation is,” archbishop said.

“The pesident doesn’t send someone to the news stand to buy newspapers. Somebody looks at the newspapers and brings him the items that he is supposed to pay attention to.

“There is no excuse for Mr. President to be kept in the dark about it and if I were Mr. President and I finally found out that all these things have been happening and I was not told, then all those who should have informed me would be fired immediately. They are destroying his work.”