Nigeria’s Christian leaders condemn violence

ABUJA, Nigeria — Christian leaders have condemned Muslim fundamentalists for killing Christians and destroying churches in northern Nigeria, warning that the national government’s inability to address the violence could turn the country into a theater for religious war. Ongoing conflict has been reported in the states of Plateau, Jigawa, Nasarawa and Bauchi.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) issued a prepared statement that read, “How can anyone explain the reason for invading a church where women, children and men were worshiping, asking them to surrender and lie face down and then proceed to machete and axe them to death in their house of worship?” The CAN statement asserted that Christians in Nigeria have never initiated violence against Muslims and claimed that Nigerian officials demonstrate lukewarm attitudes toward the plight of Christians.

Jigawa deputy governor Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan decried the violence against Christians as unfortunate and shameful. Hassan, a Muslim, told Compass Direct news service, “It is a mob action by miscreants to destabilize the state.”