Retired-General Muhammad Buhari, who is a former Nigerian military head-of-state, has had his petition to overturn the results of the national presidential elections rejected by the Supreme Court. Goodluck Jonathan was upheld as President., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
CAN seeks Buhari’s arrest over alleged defence of Boko Haram
TUESDAY, 04 JUNE 2013 00:00 BY NKECHI ONYEDIKA, ABUJA
Nigerian Guardian
PRESIDENT of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has called for the arrest of former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, over his statement in which he allegedly questioned the “special treatment” given to the Niger Delta militants by the Federal Government while the Boko Haram members are being killed and their houses destroyed.
Buhari was said to have made the statement while speaking on a Liberty Radio programme, Guest of the week.
In a statement Tuesday in Abuja, the CAN president, who described Buhari as a big security risk to Nigeria’s cooperate existence, added that the comment has not portrayed him as a national leader. He accused a former Head of State of being the prime leader of the Boko Haram sect.
Oritsejafor said: “It is laughable that Buhari, an ex-Head of State, a General in the Nigerian Army who has served this country in different capacities would support Islamists who are confronting those in his constituency who are fighting to keep the nation from dismemberment. It is shocking that at a time well-meaning Nigerians are praying for the success of our soldiers, Buhari, rather than reflect the mood of the nation in his statements and conducts, is indulging in careless statements without regard for victims of the sect’s violence who are mostly Christians. Therefore, Buhari’s comments, coming at a time Nigerians have been quite appreciative of the bold steps taken by President Goodluck Jonathan to rid the north of Nigeria’s enemies can only mean that the retired General is a fanatic.”
Oritsejafor noted that “for Buhari, who has led a Brigade of troops in 1982 to repel invading Chadian troops from the same north-eastern borders of Nigeria, the first major foreign invasion, to oppose a state of emergency when some parts of Borno and Yobe states had been occupied and the Nigerian flag replaced with theirs, burnt churches, schools, government institutions, killed innocent Christians, attacked traditional rulers and others not sympathetic to their cause, speaks volume”.
According to him, “as a retired General, Buhari should have known that fights against terrorists are not mere child’s play. They are much more difficult than conventional war which he fought in 1982. If Buhari is a national leader, he should have been more concerned about the killings of innocent ones by the sect members and the success of the troops, and not that of terrorists as he has been doing”.
Oritsejafor stated that the pain inflicted on Christians living in the north is too deep for us in CAN to ignore any unsavoury statement that tends to portray innocent Christians who have been killed by the sect members as the aggressors.
“If the retired General is now crying out that the Boko Haram members are being killed, it can only mean that the boys intended to be used to spill the blood of monkeys and baboons on the land are being decimated by the gallant Special Forces.
“For now, Buhari should be told that the time to grandstand for 2015 is not now. I, therefore, call on him and his fellow travelers to remember that we are all Nigerians, our religion and regional leanings notwithstanding.
“Buhari and others of that ilk should, rather than exacerbating the problem at hand, aim to convince the sect members of the wrongfulness of their Islamisation plot,” the CAN president said.
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