Nigeria may experience crisis during the forthcoming 2019 General Elections if the violence that has engulfed Kaduna and other northern states are not addressed through the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The co-chairman of the Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace (IDFP), Bishop Sunday Onuoha, said this in Abuja at a news conference on its advocacy and fact-finding visits to five states, namely, Zamfara, Benue, Plateau, Taraba and Kaduna.
During the visits, Onuoha said the team met with critical stakeholders like security agencies, monarchs, Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) and Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), among others.
Onuoha, who expressed sadness about the development, said findings in Kaduna State on the recent killings revealed that there is hypocrisy among some members of communities. He advanced, as factors responsible for the conflict, the actions and inactions of some religious and political leaders, who are not practicing what they preach.
He said the problem of youth restiveness, caused by unemployment and mutual distrust among various groups, remains a major challenge.
The co-chairman also said that in Kaduna, the Agom Adara, His Royal Highness Dr. Maiwada Galadima, was abducted less than 48 hours after he granted audience to the IDFP team.
The clergy said: “pastors and imams should not preach bad messages. It is not new, we all know it that some people take advantage of the vulnerable situation of our country. That is what we are out to do; to preach peace across board. What we ask federal government to do is to intervene to show that those monarchs who are vulnerable, based on where they are, are helped to be able to carry out their responsibilities
“We also commended some leaders in Kaduna who are able to come together. We have a lot of interfaith programmes going on in Kaduna and if not for such interfaith programmes going on in states like Kaduna, Zamfara, Taraba and Benue, we won’t be where we are today. It is those interventions that have really helped us.
“We call on President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Nasir el-Rufai and relevant security agencies to ensure quick resolution of the crisis that has engulfed Kaduna State, urging the people in Kaduna to see the current curfew as a painful necessity to combat agents of destruction and prevailing insecurity.
“And if nothing is done now to address the situation as we get into the 2019 general election period, the situation is going to be worst. Unless government takes serous action to ensure we address the situation, we may have crisis in our hands and it is an urgent situation that needs urgent solution,” he said.
IDFP commended the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Abdulrahman, for providing security cover throughout the areas visited and prayed for the safe return of the abducted monarch.