Southern Kaduna Killings Have Become Ethnic Cleansing –Bishops

Southern Kaduna killings have assumed the pattern of an ethnic cleansing and no longer just a regular security challenge.

As a result, there is need for decisive actions to stem the killings.

These were part of the declarations of the Pentecostal Bishops Forum of the 19 Northern States (PBFNS which met to review the situation in Abuja on Tuesday.

The Pentecostal Prelate and Chairman, PBFNS, JohnPraise Daniel, told newsmen at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja “The situation had assumed a dangerous dimension of ethnic cleansing, going by the methodology and clinical decimation of the population of the indigenous people with mindless ruthlessness.

“We must move beyond rhetoric and demand decisive actions from those whose duty it is under the constitution to protect the defenceless citizens.

The Eagle reports that the bishop who is also founder of Dominion Chapel International Church, said the government must ensure prompt arrest and prosecution of perpetrators of dastardly act in Southern Kaduna.

He also called for prosecution of sponsors of trouble in the region , whoever and wherever they may be.

Its intervention should not end there but include instituting a structured compensation plan for victims of the crisis.

Bishop Daniel contended that government must also mobilise, engage traditional and religious institutions in the area for effective consensus building among the various socio-cultural and economic groups in Kaduna State.

 “There must be effective sensitisation of the people to their responsibilities toward one another and to the government, as well as the need for harmonious relationships in the communities.”

“We must move beyond rhetoric and demand decisive actions from those whose duty it is under the constitution to protect the defenceless citizens.

“The situation had assumed a dangerous dimension of ethnic cleansing, going by the methodology and clinical decimation of the population of the indigenous people with mindless ruthlessness.

One way of finding enduring solution, he said, was for the government to underlying socio-economic and political feuds among the different ethnic groups in the state.

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“Though, it is lamentable that no arrests and prosecutions have been recorded to date, we are joining our voices to the patriotic cries of concerned citizens, and groups nationally and internationally to strongly call on President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Nasiru El-Rufai and relevant government functionaries to do more.”