B’Haram has Destroyed 850 Churches, PFN Says

The President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Dr. Felix Omobude, has revealed that about 850 churches have been destroyed, with many people killed and injured through the activities Boko Haram in the northern part of the country.Omobude stated this on Tuesday during a visit to the Oyo State chapter of the association, at the Rehoboth Cathedral, Oluyole Estate, Ibadan.
He was assisted during the visit by the founder of Sword of the Spirit Ministries, Bishop Wale Oke; Oyo State chairman of PFN, Bishop Taiwo Adelakun (of Victory International Church) and other clergies.
While condemning the renewed insurgents’ suicide bombings and other attacks, coupled with the heavy casualties being recorded, Omobude urged the Federal Government to rise up to the task of defending the citizens from the Islamic fundamentalists.
According to the clergy, peace would reign in the country when people live together without the fear of being attacked by a set of individuals. He however aligned with the approach of the Federal Government to the dialogue with the sect, if they were ready to embrace peace.
He said, “By my understanding of the government’s position, it is not that the government is going to beg the insurgents. The war against them will continue. If they say they want to talk, no government will turn deaf ears to them.
“We are appealing to our people as well as our leaders to come together and treat the insurgents as criminals, which they are truly because nobody can justify the dastardly act of bombing places of worship.
“The PFN condemns the atrocities of the Islamic sect in all ramifications. We acknowledge the efforts of the security agencies, especially since the inauguration of the new government and we appeal to the government to make the security agents comfortable so as to be able to concentrate on the task at hand.”
Omobude also appealed to Nigerians to accept displaced victims of the sect or those who were rescued by security forces back into the society. He added that the fellowship, in its effort to assist the victims of Boko Haram across all religious divides, set up an appeal fund. He said so far, over N40m have been spent on the rehabilitation of the people.
“I urge everybody around the victims to be their brothers’ keepers, by giving them any assistance necessary,” he said.
He called on Nigerians to be patient with the new government and pray for its success.
Meanwhile, the National Human Right Commission has said that Nigeria has the third highest number of Internally Displaced Persons in the world, just behind Syria and Iraq.
The commission noted that security challenges had continued to be one of the greatest threats to the country.
The Chairman of NHRC, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, raised the alarm in Abuja while delivering a keynote address entitled, “Good governance beyond 2015: Setting agenda for inclusive and sustainable development in an era of change.”
He said this at the national conference which ended on Tuesday in Abuja.
The event was organised by the United Nations Millennium Campaign, Millennium Development Goals Office of the Presidency and Open Society Initiative for West Africa.
According to him, because of the fragility of the state and its institutions, violence has become a major cause of mortality in Nigeria, which means that the global idea of the MDGs/sustainable development goals could be threatened.
Odinkalu said, “Nigeria has the third global population of internal displacements, behind Syria and Iraq, with the possibility of internally displaced persons. Reflecting the fragility of the state and its institutions, violence has become a major cause of mortality in Nigeria, with the Heidelberg Centre’s annual conflict barometer reporting that the country was fighting two wars at the end of 2014 – in the North-East and North-Central respectively in which possibly tens of thousands were being killed.”
The NHRC’s boss stated that the MDGs and indeed, the wider project of development were themselves founded on the notions of human rights, human dignity and equality generally.
He also quoted the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre Global Overview of 2014, which says that Boko Haram’s ruthless campaign to establish an independent Islamic state in north-eastern Nigeria also drove significant new displacement.
“It was responsible for displacing more than three-quarters of, at least, 975,300 people in the country during the year while many others fled inter-communal violence in the Middle-Belt region,” the report stated.
The IDMC report also added that as at the end of 2014, 38 million people had been forced to flee their homes by armed conflict and violence in the world. These, the report added, were living in camps within the borders of their various countries while 11 million people were newly displaced during the year, the equivalent of 30,000 fleeing each day.