Nigeria Pastors Want Christian Parliament Speakers As Violence Spreads

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By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

ABUJA (Worthy News) – Nigerian pastors and bishops have urged legislators to choose Christians as speakers of the Senate and House of Representatives of the bicameral parliament after Muslims were chosen as the nation’s president and vice president.

The call came at a time of unrest in Nigeria, with scores of Christians and others being killed by suspected Muslim gunmen in recent days.

“We as a group of pastors have come to demand that since the vice president and president are of the same religion, we hereby demand that the speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate [speakers posts] must be occupied by Christians. There is a need to balance the equation,” said the Nigeria Coalition of Pastors for Good Leadership.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who last month became Nigeria’s 16th head-of-state, is a southern Muslim. He picked former Borno state governor Kashim Shettima, a northern Muslim, as his vice president.

The move by Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, was seen as appeasing Nigeria’s Muslim-majority north which has the largest voting bloc in the country.

However Paul Jongas, an outspoken Christian evangelist and farmer, told Worthy News that Christians fear “very soon Islamic law will be introduced across the country.” He said he fears Christian persecution will increase” as they hand “no voice now.”

The concerns came as details emerged that suspected Muslim gunmen killed more than 50 people and kidnapped several children in separate attacks in three northern states.

ARMED MEN

Residents said the armed men attacked Janbako and Sakkida villages in northwestern Zamfara state Saturday, June 3, killing 24 people. The gunmen also abducted several children who were collecting firewood in a forest in neighboring Gora village.

Armed gangs on motorbikes frequently take advantage of thinly stretched security forces in the region to kidnap villagers, motorists, and students for ransom.

Many of those targeted are usually Christians. Yet, while they were believed to be among the victims of the latest attacks, there were no signs that Christians had been singled out.

Police spokesperson Ahmad Rufai said the neighboring state of Sokoto was also attacked in five villages by Tangaza local government on Saturday, with the dead buried Sunday, June 11.

Local villagers said gangs had demanded that villagers pay a fee to enable them to farm their fields, but locals did not do so.

Zamfara police spokesman Yazid Abubakar confirmed the attacks but said in published remarks only 13 people had been killed and nine young boys and girls kidnapped.

Gunmen killed 25 people and set their houses on fire during an attack on Saturday, June 10, on the Imande Mbakange community in north central Benue state, but the motive wasn’t immediately clear, residents said.

Christians demand additional security measures and believe a more balanced parliament and government could support their calls. More than 50,000 Christians have been killed over the last two decades, including by Fulani herdsmen and others, according to human rights activists.

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