₦airaland Forum

Wusasa Bishop Blasts CAN: Northern Politicians Are Not Boko Haram

March 26, 2013 - 02:06 — siteadmin



By SaharaReporters, New York

The Wusasa Bishop of the Anglican Church in Northern Nigeria, Rt.Rev Ali Buba Lamido, has blasted the Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor-led Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for alleging that 90 percent of politicians in the north are members of the militant Boko Haram group.

Bishop Buba, who signed a press release sent to SaharaReporters’s New York office by Amos Ibrahim, a warden of the diocese, said that CAN is being used to champion interests that are in no way advancing the core mission of Christianity.

Referring to the press statement credited to Mr. Sunny Oibe, the spokesperson of CAN for the 19 Northern States of Nigeria in the aftermath of the recent bombing in Kano, the Bishop joined in condemning the unnecessary killing of innocent Nigerians, which he described as barbaric and an act of savagery.  

“We have had enough of destruction in the North and we should be looking for ways to get of this quagmire,” he said.  “I agree that the government must change its tactics in order to put a stop to this bestial cruelty in our land.   I pray God to comfort those who lost their loved ones.

Having said that, he dismissed the statements made by Mr. Oibe as not only highly-creative conjecture, but also libelous and capable of whipping up the base and bestial emotions of religious faithful towards premeditated and surreptitious reprisals.

“The manner in which Mr. Sunny spoke to the press does not portray him as a mature Christian leader.  It came to me as a rude shock that a Christian leader could make serious and despicable allegations. His vituperations and invectives are cheap and infra dig. There is no way Christians in the “core north” will paint such apparitions of Armageddon with such words that brook no decorum. I am surprised how CAN, Northern States will come out with such a totally misguiding notion or even allow such representation.”

He wondered how a Christian leader could come up with the conjecture that 90% of the politicians in northern Nigeria are either members or sponsors of Boko Haram, questioning how he arrived at the statistics.

“Are Christian politicians in the North also in Boko Haram? Will he be willing to vouchsafe the names of these Boko Haram members and sponsors to the President who still feels that Boko Haram members are ghosts? I feel some of these statements are reckless.

“Mr. Sunny threw decorum to the wind when he called for the intervention of the International Community to deal with “these animals once and for all”. Some of us who are Christian leaders in the North are embarrassed by this egregious vulgarity displayed by Mr. Sunny Oibe. He conveniently forgot that no enduring edifice can be built on the foundation of rot, artifice and chicanery. He was probably speaking for himself and not for Christians in the north who desire peacefully co-existence with our brothers and sisters.”

Drawing particular attention to Oibe’s claim that the latest attack has exposed the hypocrisy of the people calling for amnesty for Boko Harram members, the Bishop asked, “What does Mr. Sunny understand by Amnesty?  Is he saying that the 90% politicians in the “core north” are really hypocrites? Will Christian politicians and Spiritual leaders in the “Core north” turn against themselves and their region?”

He described the statement as the greatest disservice to logic and common sense, adding that people who do not know the north to be quiet on issues they are not sure of.  “If they cannot proffer positive solutions to our problems, they should stop inciting and causing further injuries to all people.  Mr. Sunny should know that the call for Amnesty was not only by Muslim politicians, but also by mature Christians from the core north,” he pointed out.

“For the records, both Christian and Muslim leaders in the North are unanimous on Amnesty to Boko Haram,” Bishop Lamido said, adding that the position was arrived at with the understanding that it will bring a permanent solution to the insurgency which has almost brought all of the North to a complete stand still.

He said that people in the North are determined to overcome the insurgency and are looking for men and women who are ready to work with them to achieve it.

“It is either you partner with us or allow us do it. Please we could do without people inciting groups to take up arms against one another.  I strongly feel there is need to overhaul CAN to make it achieve its purpose, otherwise it will continue to cause more problems than solutions.”

Gboliwe: Etisalat for me.
How do we start moving, I can no longer wait.

Efikman: IN OSUN STATE.

Opi - Enugu Community Where Old Women Are Raped By Youngmen

19 August 2012 , By Tony Adibe, Source: Daily Trust

Enugu

...Shocking findings by Enugu Assembly Committee

Even after Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, in October 2012 during an interaction with media executives and reporters in the state, raised an outcry over the reported cases of old women being gang-raped with bravado, one would have expected the said rapists and their alleged sponsors to quickly end the abominable.

"This is very strange. If you look at the age bracket of the victims, it's quite strange. The culprits, to me, should be examined. I don't think they are well; they must be sick upstairs. It's not normal. Why should teenagers be after 62, 80 years old women? Except we are told that the young girls have fled the community. If not, you can't explain this type of thing."

The governor further said, "But what we are sure is that government is not taking kindly the issue of rape. Of course, you know the punishment for rape. So is serious enough and anybody caught will be dealt with. Rape is a life jail offence. So if a boy of 18 years wants to go to jail for life for playing with an 80-year old woman, so be it. It's unfortunate." But less than one year after, the deviants have called Chime's warning bluff and continued with arrogance in their reported unlawful and anti-social activities!

Sunday Trust learnt that on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 a 5-man Ad-hoc Committee, set up by the Enugu State House of Assembly to thoroughly investigate the incessant rape of old women in Opi, held a public hearing with some of the stakeholders in the affected community. That was after some of the Enugu-based NGOs had, on June 19, 2021 mobilised and protested to the state assembly against rape. Thereupon a member of the House, Chika Ene, moved a motion leading to the formation of the ad-hoc committee to probe the rape issue.

The committee, which had Mr. Michael Onyeze and Hon. (Mrs) Chika Eze, as Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively, was made up of Mr Chinedu C. Nwamba, Dr Emeka Igwuabor and George Nwankw as members. The committee invited the four traditional rulers of the autonomous community of Opi and other stakeholders such as the chairman and the Vice chairman of Opi Community; the council leaders; Rev. Father of the Catholic Church, Opi; chairman of Opi town Union, Abuja branch; women leaders of Ogbo-Ozalla, Ibeku and Idi Opi; town union leaders; chairmen of various communities; various NGOs such as Umuada Igbo, Women Aid Collective (WACOL),National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Hope Givers Initiative (HOGI), National Council of Women Society, Catholic Women Association, Opi and others at the council secretariat, Nsukka to the public hearing on the issue of rape.

The traditional ruler of Ogbozalla community of OpI Nsukka, (apparently the most affected community), in Nsukka local council, Igwe Fabian Ogbuabo, while briefing the public hearing, said the continuous rape of old women in his domain was caused by the women's non-compliance with the payment of N100 security levy.

"The women were told to pay N100 each as security levy to prevent them from being raped, since they are the targets, but they refused paying and this has made the Neighbourhood Watch to relax in the performance of ensuring the safety of their lives" the Igwe, is one-time Secretary to the Enugu State Government (SSG). The Igwe's speech attracted a lot of verbal missiles from the participants, including the committee members who reprimanded him.

In her submission, a woman leader in the community, Mrs Ngozi Agbo enjoined the state government and the relevant security agencies to provide adequate security for women in Opi since youths who are specialists in raping old women are hunting for their heads. The women of Ogbozalla and Ibeku community no longer sleep in their houses for fear of being gang-raped by red-eyed young men allegedly roaming the town looking for women to defile, according to Madam Agbo, who shed tears as she briefed the committee. Her speech drew tears from the participants at the public hearing when she reminded them that the women now sleep outside the community because of the menace of the rampaging rapists.

Agbo also told the committee that the raping of old women had become a recurring saga because the rapists received undue protection and support from some wealthy and influential members of the area who, she said, go secretly to bail the culprits from police detention.

"We are calling on government to come to our rescue. Our traditional ruler has not helped matters; he doesn't live in the community. He and his family live in Enugu city and because of this, he has shown little concern in our sufferings," she said pitifully.

The Parish Priest of St. Charles Parish, Rev. Fr. Martins Ozioko, alleged that the leaders of the community were fond of introducing "local politics" in the matter they should have come out to condemn strongly.

"This case will not stop until the leaders and politicians come out boldly to condemn this evil. Opi is now a mystery of sort but my joy is that one day everybody will give account of his stewardship on earth before God," Fr. Ozioko said.

However, the Chairman of Nsukka Local Government Area, Barrister Tony Ugwu, said he was surprised by the media publicity given the rape issue by the groups championing the case. He said they never bothered to report to the council authorities before rushing to invite the press.

"It is unfortunate that as the Chief Security Officer of the council, none of the so-called NGOs thought it wise to come to me before going to the media. I read everything about the rape on the pages of newspapers and they have been cashing in on this to make money for themselves," he said. Ugwu neither supported nor condemned the rape; he did not proffer any solution to the insecurity problem facing the old women in the area.

The various NGOs strongly condemned the brazen rape of old women, insisting that such shameful act attracted heaps of curses and retrogression (backwardness) to the communities and persons involved in it. The NGOs, in their submissions, made 7-point recommendations, insisting that the Enugu State government should quickly come to the aid of the women who have been raped by sorting out their health conditions, while calling for the reorganisation of the town's security outfit as well as an establishment of a police post at Ogbo-Ozalla community.

The NGOs also called for the removal of the Igwe if he continues to live outside his domain, and appealed for non-stigmatization of neither any of the rape victims nor taxing of any woman for security reasons. They advised that all the people with questionable characters in the area should be reported to the police for possible prosecution in a competent law court.

"Rape is not just barbaric but also inhuman. The mere mention of this four letter word sends goose pimples and fear in every woman both sane and insane. The consequences of rape ranges from medical, psychological, emotional, distress, depression and so on, and that is why every right-thinking person and government should go against such heinous crime," said Mrs Onyeka Udegbunam, the Executive Director, Hope Givers Initiative (HOGI), one of the NGOs crusading against the rape of women in the area.

The Opi Nsukka case is one that has brought to the fore the various consequences of rape as well as the nonchalant attitude towards conviction of perpetrators and lack of care for the victims who immediately after the act is so traumatised and stigmatised to be able to seek medical attention, according to the NGOS.

Onyeze called for cooperation from all the stakeholders, emphasising that with sincerity, they will arrive at a solution that will end the problem. He expressed disgust at the native ruler, Igwe Ogbo-Ozalla for forcing women to pay for their security so that they will not be raped. "This is unfair," Onyeze remarked angrily

PointB: Never has 'nearly' killed a bird.

ayox2003: Obinoscopy took the debate like he was actually talking to people sitting in a "Nairaland Hall". Great delivery - also throwing rhetorical questions to the audience. I think he diverted all the blames to our leader while there are other cogent points like human resources, geographical influence and so on. Kudos!

Kats was very logical and in-depth. More like a thesis He took it from the scratch and gave it a good finishing. Kudos. But I think its was kinda lengthy. His further argument shows how really in-depth he is. I say kudos, again.

Kudos to the Mods and judges.

Truth be told, the amalgamation of the southern and northern protectorate was a costly mistake.

To corroborate this topic, I wrote an article around March after the Catholic church was bombed in Jos. As it stands, those who brought us into this mess, our colonial masters, are facing the same problem. Scotland, the oil-rich part of the UK wants to be on its own. Although there are some similarities between a Scot and an English man, the differences would always give them a terra firma to have their own sovereignty. Unlike the Scots and every other Britons, there is no pinch of similarity between a Southerner and a Northern. The difference between them is as vast as the difference between a giraffe and a kangaroo . I mean, u can't just bring groups of people with an extremely different culture and religion together under the same abode and expect peace. No. People invest somuch ego into their culture, religion and territory that it could make cannibals out of them!

Anyway, hope is not lost. God bless Nigeria.



Frawzey

TRUTHTELA: I'm STILL in shock, I never knew that a SUBJECT could be discussed on nairaland, solely with FACTS and INTELLIGENCE, without the usual name calling, insults & RAZZ people taking it over. I wish the owner of Nairaland, take advantage of this debate and use it to REBUILD the IMAGE of this SITE & TAKE IT TO GREATER HEIGHTS. If SANITY has been RESTORED, I hope to be back from my SABBATICAL. Obinoscopy and Katsumo, you guys IMPRESSED me.

nitlad: Followed the debate yesteday, and I've gotta say it was awesome, (kudos to the debaters Obinoscopy and Katsumoto. Top blokes they are). And it was an excellently executed exercise too(give the kudos to Jarus for that). A few things could be done better though.
I thought Obinoscopy came out as the more spontaneous debater in light of his arguments and responses to rebuttals and questions while Katsumoto was well loaded for this (dude sure knows his onions).
Obinoscopy's perfomance is all the more surprising given that his was a side that on the face of it (at least that was my thinking before this debate) you would be hard pressed to find valid points. Yet he gave a masterclass from what presumably should be a doomed corner. Your reference to Somalia was particularly striking!
Kats inspite of your eggheadous perfomance (lol if there is anything like that), I'm not sure you succeeded in undeniably tying any of the problems bedevilling this nation to the 1914 Amalgamation throughout the duration of the debate. I stand to be corrected on this, perhaps I missed it.
I personally believe amalgamating the Northern and Southern Protectorates is/was a historical tragedy, but this debate made me realise that the problems in this country didn't necessarily stem from amalgamation.
All in all, it was an insightfully knowledgeable and exhilaratingly brilliant exercise!

damas11111: This was a wonderful idea and a very educative debate. Though Katsumoto may have gotten the nod as the winner but I'd give it to Obinoscopic for his efforts that even got many thinking (and believing) that the amalgamation may not have been a mistake afterall. I'll say anyone arguing against the topic is always going to be at a disadvantaged position given what many (or most) Nigerians have considered a "mistake" for many years ago. Kudos to the two for a well laid out defence of their position.

coogar: i was quite impressed too.....
obinoscopy's piece was more interesting - he delivered a good read from the onset and he was consistent all through! katsumoto(the japanese rebel) just went for the jugular with tonnes and tonnes of information and facts to process(there should have been a word limit)!

overall, it was a quality debate.....congrats to the both of them!

coded guy: Even though I already felt that the amalgamation was a mistake before the debate started I duff my heart for Obinoscopy. At a point he was already convincing me but the point where Katsumotu highlited the fact that as a result of the amalgamation there were too many diverse interest as per religion, ethnicity, political ambitions won it for me.

In conclusion for me the issue of the amalgamation will always come up because of the faulty political structure we are operating.

Once again, congrats to the two debaters they did justice. It was insightful.

Iaz93: Obinoscopy ur presentation was cool...katsumoto u'r good..
Excellent debate.
Mehn... I cud c brains at work..
Wonderful...

Obinoscopy: So I almost convinced you

Thanks, I must say I learnt a lot from my opponent and the audience as well. Thats the beauty of a constructive debate.

I however still stand on my ground

chic2pimp: Well done Katsumo and Obinoscopy. Must say I was highly impressed most especially with Obino.

I have read quite a number of Kats posts so pretty much knew what to expect with regards to bringing his A game to the table.

Obino on other hand was a huge surprise because not only have I never seen nor read his posts before but also because I thought the Debate was highly Skewed in favour of Kats. Very Impressed man.

marion g: Quite interesting! They both did fantastic given how well they put forward their argument. Punch line upon punch line. @Katsumoto. You are good, it all seemed as if u had anticipated and prepared for this debate long before now. With the level of facts you tendered, i can only but salute. @obinoscopy. U where very cogent and i love the way you presented your points, concise and brief, quite convincing it was. Kudos to both guys, indeed it was educative. Looking forward to more of such.

Santino1: Great debate from both debaters...I have added more fact to my knowledge base on the amalgamation, all thanks to Kats. I'm particularly impressed with Obino as he defended an otherwise difficult subject with such persuasiveness. Kudos.

Thanks to Jarus, OAM4J and the entire Nairaland crew for making this happen..looking forward to the next edition

Katsumoto: This argument supposes that Nigerians may not have existed if there was no amalgamation. Surely there were people who resided within the boundaries of present day Nigeria before the amalgamation and would surely have been in existence if there was no amalgamation. If we accept British influence, there is nothing to suggest that being called a Biafran, or Oduan (for lack of better terms) would have been any different than being called a Nigerian. Surely, Seun could have called his website the Odualand. To throw that argument on its head; nothing stops Seun from creating a website for West Africa and as such Seun could have still created a website for the geographical area of 'Nigeria'.

Obinoscopy: All protocols duly observed.

My opponent is well verse and is an academic elite as is evidenced with his historical elaborations. But with all humility I will say he did not give us the proof that th 1914 amalgamation was a mistake. He just told about what led to the amalgamation and then went ahead to tell us the woes we are facing in this country. But he failed to relate the amalgamation (CAUSE) to our present troubles (EFFECT)

I'll also tackle some of his positions one after the other as time would so permit me.



Spain is a European country yet they are not a homogenous society. There are different ethnic groups, and they speak different language such as Basque, Catalan, Galician and Occitan. If you are adept with Spanish history, you will know there is a serious ethnic polarity and demand for self determination within ethnic groups in that country. The same can also be said of Turkey where there is an Islamic majority and Christian minority.

Katsumoto: No one knows how long the wars my opponent refers to would have gone on for. It didn't appear that any of the sides had a material advantage to subdue the other. The Fulani were restricted by the Bornu-Kanem empire. The Fulani and Yoruba had a series of wars with no one landing a decisive blow. The Yoruba themselves were not even united before peace was brokered by the British in 1892; they had been fighting the Kiriji war for 16 years.

Obinoscopy: Seriously, I am yet to see where you were able to correlate the colonial amalgamation with all the problems we are facing as a nation. Maybe its because I am a debater and thus biased.

I have said it before that its our leaders that are to blame for the woes of this country and not the colonial leaders who have long gone. What we need is good governance and social justice!