We’ll petition international organisations over killing of Deborah, says CAN

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) says it will petition international organisations to call the government to order and to be more serious in dealing with religious violence in Nigeria. 

In a chat with Arise TV on Monday, Samson Ayokunle, president of the CAN, said the government “has not been able to take decisive action” on cases of religious violence and “the entire world needs to hear”.

He spoke in reaction to the killing of Deborah Emmanuel, a female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, for alleged blasphemy.

The police command in Sokoto arrested two suspects in connection with the killing.

But, on Saturday, some Muslim youths in the state took to the streets to protest against the arrest of the suspects. At the same time, some rioters attacked two Catholic churches in Sokoto state, destroying some facilities in the parishes.

Speaking on the situation, Ayokunle said, “this is not the first time this type of thing will happen,” and “we need to appeal to the international communities and organisations to help Nigeria and Nigerian Christians”.

“In this country, we are a democracy, and we are the constitution guiding our lives. If anybody has transgressed in whatever way, nobody has the right to take unilateral action and just terminate the life of another human being. This is not the first time this type of thing will happen,” the CAN president.

“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 need to appeal to the international communities and organisations to help Nigeria and Nigerian Christians.

“Everybody has the right to speak, and if their speech is dangerous or perceived as ‘hate speech,’ we have the law to handle that. Everybody cannot become a law enforcement agent. This is barbaric and annoying, and this kind of thing should stop. If we talk to the government decisive and they are not, we drag it to the rest of the world to call our government to order and be more serious.”