By Adeola Adeyemo
It is no news that Christians across the country are sorely aggrieved by the frequent attacks on churches in northern states by members of the Boko Haramsect. They leave a trail of destruction, bloodshed and tears with every attack on the places of worship. With bombs and guns, they unleash their terror on Christians as they gather to worship their God, Sunday after Sunday, making the practice of their religion indeed hard for them.I cannot pretend to really understand what goes on in the north. No. I cannot pretend to understand how it feels to stay at home every Sunday, staying away from the Church you love just because you don’t want to get your body ripped apart by a bomb or have some bullets pumped into your body.
The guest Minister who came to my church last Sunday spoke of a recent evangelical visit to Kano. She spoke of the deserted homes, empty churches, people fleeing the state by the minute. In her words “You people here in Lagos don’t understand what is happening in the north. Kano is now a ghost of itself.”
After the attack on churches in Jos and Borno last Sunday, I overheard a conversation between some Christians. They were angry and bitter and their words were filled with calls for revenge. “It is time to retaliate. We cannot continue to sit down and do nothing. How can they continue to bomb churches every time like that. Have you heard of them bombing any mosque?” they said.
Sad indeed. In recent times, Boko Haram has killed hundreds of Christians at their places of worship. On Easter Sunday, April 8th 2012, a car bomb exploded outside a church in Kaduna killing 38 people. On Sunday 29th April, 2012, gunmen attacked a Christian fellowship in Bayero University Kano, sporadically shooting at Christians as they ran for their lives. On Sunday June 3rd 2012, at least 15 people were killed and 40 injured in Bauchi state after a suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives into Living Faith Church. A week later a suicide bomber and gunmen killed 12 in separate attacks on churches in Jos and Borno.
These are just a few of the attacks on churches. Now, people wonder whether this is no longer a political war like they claimed or a religious war. Or rather did they say it was a religious war and not political? I really don’t understand it anymore.
This is not forgetting that some Boko Haram attacks on places apart from Churches have led to the killing of Muslims as well.
But why am I recalling all this? A news report I read in Vanguard today noted that Christians under theChristian Association of Nigeria, CAN, yesterday, declared its readiness to retaliate these killings.
Chairman of the association in the South East Chapter and Anglican Bishop of Enugu, Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, expressed anger over the continued killings of innocent Christians in the North.
According to Bishop Chukwuma, leaders of CAN were now convinced that Boko Haram had set out to eliminate Christians in the North, warning that Christians would no longer keep quiet.
He expressed regrets that CAN’s appeals to Christians to remain calm and peaceful in the face of the deadly attacks by Boko Haram had been taken for weakness, saying this informed the resolve to declare their readiness to retaliate.
He warned that the continued act of bombing by Boko Haram was capable of causing another civil war in the country, “because the Biafran War was not as severe as this and we are ready for it.”
“For me as the South East chairman of CAN, I am ready to lead people with Ogbunigwe (locally-made bombs used by Biafra during the war) to defend our people, and this Ogbunigwe will be more severe than Boko Haram Bombs; if they don’t stop further attacks on Christians and our people in the North,” the Enugu Anglican Bishop further threatened.
I think I was wrong to call it a war earlier on. It is not a war yet, just one-sided attacks on Christians who in their characteristic way, as the Bible commanded, would turn the other cheek. But it seems Christians are tired of turning the other cheek.
So then I ask, are we ready for it, really? If this should escalate to a full blown religious war, are we ready for it? Or maybe I should put it this way, is retaliation the solution? Should Christians attack bomb for bomb, fire for fire?
The government and security agencies have proved their inability to protect the lives of citizens time and time again. It is not surprising that Christians now want to take the law into their hands. But really, what would Jesus do?
Tags: Boko Haram, Christian Association of Nigeria
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