Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, yesterday condemned last Sunday’s suicide bombing at St John’s Catholic Church in Bauchi State, which killed three and injured over 43, saying it was a threat to peaceful co-existence and aimed at igniting a religious war.
?“Our country is today passing through a bitter and bloody experience of insurgency and sectarian violence. Our unity as a people and as a country is threatened. Our freedom and democracy is also under threat.
“It is an act of savagery? of the most unfathomable nature to maim? and kill? worshipers on a day which is globally recognized as one in which neighbours should extend their hands of fellowship to believers and non-believers in their faith. Such an act is even unacceptable on any day anywhere? in any civilized society the world over,”? he stated.
The Minister, in a statement by His Special Assistant on Media, George Udoh, described? the attack as most unfortunate and dastardly, and called? on Muslims and Christians to eschew violence.
Meanwhile, Bauchi State Government has commiserated with the Christians community in the state over Sunday’s suicide bombing at the St John’s Catholic Church which killed three people and injured 46 others. It described the attack as barbaric, condemnable and an act of terrorism which government was fighting hard to eradicate.
In a press statement the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Ishola Michael Adeyemi, issued to newsmen yesterday at the end of the emergency state security council meeting, the state government also assured that government would do everything humanly possible to track down all criminals in the state down and bring them to book because, according to the council, “there is no way we will allow criminals and terrorists to continue to live among us and continue to terrorize innocent people even in their places of worship. We must join hands to stop these heinous acts.”
In a related development, the Jama’atu Nasir Islam (JNI) yesterday described the Sunday bomb attacked on St. John’s Catholic Church in Bauchi State as shocking and sad.
This is just as the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) also described the explosion as unnecessary especially at a time when many Nigerians are making appeal for cease fire and understanding.
ACF in a statement though it spokesman, Anthony Sani? said, the Sunday attacked is more troubling with the fact that this has taken place despite the popular appeals by most Nigerians to perpetrators of such dastardly violence to lay down their arms and embrace the offer of dialogue by the federal government as the only viable approach to addressing any perceived grievances that can bring about peaceful coexistence and national security needed for systematic socio economic development of the country, particularly the northern parts of the country
On its part, JNI through the Secretary-General, Dr. Khalid Aliyu Abubakar said before the Sunday bomb attacked, Nigerians were beginning to hope that the insecurity problem was over.
On the American anti-Islam film, Dr Khalid called on Christian Association of Nigeria CAN to join JNI in condemning the producer of that unfortunate film that tried to tarnish the image of Islam and that of the Prophet Mohammad.
He also called on Muslims in Nigeria to be patient, saying Allah is with those who are patient anytime somebody wrong them.
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