The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has released a statement,
applauding controversial Apostle who is a Senior Pastor of Omega Fire
Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleman, for beingvocal in the face of the
repeated killing of Christians by some herdsmen in some parts of the
country.
In a statement
signed by its special assistant on media and
communication to the CAN President, Bayo Oladeji, the religious body
kicked against last Wednesday's attempted arrest of Suleman in Ekiti
state, arguing that his recent comments on the religious crisis in the
country is permitted by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
They argue that Suleman is entitled to Freedom of Speech.
"Apostle Suleman has become a refugee in Ekiti state as security
operatives are said to be searching every nook and cranny of the state
with a view to arresting him.
If there is an urgent need to interrogate Apostle Suleman on any
issue, it would only have been proper to extend a formal or informal
invitation to him from the SSS rather than Gestapo approach used in the
attempt to arrest him.
It should be noted that under Nigerian Laws, he is presumed innocent until a court of law proves otherwise.
Or have they extended the proposed obnoxious law that forbids
religious preachingwithout the permission of the state governor down
south too?
Treating Ministers of God and our members as common criminals is unacceptable to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
Enough is enough.The last time we checked, Sections 38-41 of the
1999 Constitution (as amended) states clearly that every Nigerian is
“entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including
freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or
in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and
propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and
observance.
The Constitution states unambiguously that ‘Every person shall be
entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions
and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference’.
Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with
other persons, and in particular he may form or belong to any political
party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his
interests:
Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout
Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof, and no citizen of Nigeria
shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereby or exit there".
The group called on Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who is a Christian,
to speak against the repeated attacks on Christians, stating that
hissilence on the matter is no longer golden
“It is high time the overzealous security agencies knew that Nigeria
remains a secular state and any attempt to turn the country into a
refugee camp for Christians will not be acceptable and will be resisted
with every lawful means.We call on the acting President, Professor Yemi
Osinbajo, to intervene in all the clampdown on the Church in Nigeria
after all, he is in the office primarily to representthe interest of the
Christians and his studied silence is no longer golden"he said