By Ankeli Emmanuel, Sokoto
The Middle Belt Indigenous Christian Ministers Forum (MBICMF) has raised the alarm over the continued killing of its members, urging governments at all levels to act decisively now as the silence of the Forum must not be mistaken for weakness.
In a statement signed by its National Chairman, Rev. John Nash, the Forum insisted that it cannot continue to watch its members being slaughtered, abducted, and displaced without the members raising their collective voices against such inhuman acts.
Rev. Nash, who expressed shock at the alarming escalation of killings specifically targeted at communities across the Middle Belt region of Nigeria, added that, they are being forced to witness large scale burials across states of the region.
The statement read in part: “The Middle Belt Indigenous Christian Ministers Forum (MBICMF) wishes to bring to the attention of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the international community, civil society organizations, and all people of conscience the alarming and escalating security challenges facing our members and communities across several states in the Middle Belt region.”
Registering their displeasure over the continuing ugly development, Rev. Nash said communities in the Middle Belt have continued to witness “mass killings resulting in large-scale burials across different states, with worshippers being abducted during Church services and taken to unknown destinations.”
Asserting how disturbed they feel about the unending incidences, Rev. Nash said, ‘Some of our members are brutally killed after being kidnapped. Churches are burned, vandalized, or completely destroyed. Entire communities are displaced and left traumatized.
What is particularly distressing is that in many cases, early warning reports were communicated to relevant security agencies before these attacks occurred.”
Querying security responses to some of the warnings, Nash pointed out that rather than witnessing prompt preventive measures, security intervention often comes only after lives have been lost and properties destroyed.
He, however, acknowledged that though, security operatives respond to distress calls on some occasions, the general experience was that of inconsistency and inadequacy of such responses.
According to him, the failure of government to protect the lives and property of the people of the region, more often than not increases their apprehension. The cleric noted that it seemed that the silence of the Forum over the years has been mistaken by some for weakness.
“Let it be clearly understood: our restraint has been born out of faith, patience, and respect for lawful authority — not fear or cowardice. However, the ongoing loss of innocent lives and the destruction of places of worship can no longer be treated with indifference,” he warned.
Bearing that in mind, the (MBICMF) urged the Federal and State Governments to not only immediately strengthen security presence in vulnerable communities but also expressly direct the operatives to act decisively on all early warning intelligence and prevent attacks before they occur.
While noting that the Forum remains committed to peace, justice and lawful engagement, MBICMF called on the International community and human rights organizations to pay urgent attention to the worsening humanitarian and religious freedom crisis in the Middle Belt.
The Forum also called for independent investigations into the repeated security lapses surrounding most of the attacks, adding that the world must know that they cannot continue to watch as their people are being slaughtered, abducted, and displaced without demanding for accountability.
