NUMAN: Security Agencies Were Involved in the Killings - CAN

PRESS RELEASE BY CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF
NIGERIA (CAN) ADAMAWA STATE CHAPTER ON
THE RECENT HERDSMEN AND FARMERS CLASH
IN NUMAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF
ADAMAWA STATE 6TH DECEMBER, 2017
Gentlemen of the Press:
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)
Adamawa State Chapter remains in deep
mourning as we remember those killed in the
areas of Numan and Demsa as a result of
clashes between farmers and herdsmen. We
wish to state clearly that life is a gift from God
and that life is sacred. We appreciate the
sacrifices being made by some of our security
personnel as they protect the lives and
properties of innocent citizens, more especially
the seven mobile policemen who were
gruesomely murdered last week in the Numan
area. However, we also observe the complicity
and inaction by some Security Agencies in
respect of the on-going crisis. It is such a sad
and disturbing thing to live in a nation where
the security agencies have heard reports of
impending attacks by armed men around the
bushes of villages surrounding Numan but
failed to act. We wish to state here that people
are seriously losing confidence in government at
all levels as they fail to protect the lives and
property of her citizens forgetting the sacred
oath they took.
The attacks against Numan and its environs
have been foretold by people who do not want
us to live together in peace. The phenomenon
of coordinated attacks of communities by
armed men in and around the Numan areas
have assumed dangerous proportions without
state actors taking any decisive legal measures
to arrest and prosecute offenders. The silence
of some of our highly placed Religious,
Traditional and Political leaders on the Numan
crisis can be interpreted as an approval of the
killings.
Local communities had precisely and concisely
sighted well-armed killers in different locations
over the past days and had reported same to
the security agencies but no one listened to
them.
We call on the Federal Government under the
leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari as
a matter of urgency to act promptly and to deal
with offenders as a matter of justice and an
assurance that his government “belongs to
everybody and to nobody” and to disabuse the
minds of the public that some persons or tribes
are ‘sacred cows’.
We are disheartened by the claim of some
security agents in the State that they “had boost
security in the areas”. Those who escaped the
crisis in the Numan areas complained bitterly
about the lack of security presence most
especially in the attacked communities and
areas where the armed killers were moving
towards. We call on the security agencies to be
truthful in their operations and to perform their
primary duty of securing lives and property in
and around Numan and Demsa areas in order
to restore public confidence in their work.
Conclusion: We call on all Christians in
Adamawa State to begin a three days fasting
and prayers from Friday 8th December to the
evening of Sunday 10th December 2017 for
security and peace especially in Numan and
Demsa Local Governments and Adamawa State
as a whole. We call on all Christians in
Adamawa State to be law abiding citizens and
remain very vigilant of suspicious persons bent
on destroying our peace. We pray for the souls
of the faithful departed that through the mercy
of God they may rest in peace. We equally call
on the Federal and State Governments to make
provisions for the displaced persons as a matter
of urgency, to render free medical treatment to
the injured and make adequate compensation
for those who lost their means of livelihood and
properties. “The grace and peace of our Lord
Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with us all. Amen” (Phil. 4:23).
____________________________
Most Rev. Dr. Stephen D. Mamza
CAN Chairman Adamawa State.