Former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Dr. Supo Ayokunle, has said the Federal Government cannot deny the reality of what he described as a ‘Christian genocide’ in parts of northern Nigeria.
Speaking on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television, Ayokunle made a passionate case that thousands of Christians have been deliberately targeted and massacred by violent Islamist groups over the years under the guise of enforcing Sharia law.
The former CAN president insisted that what has taken place over the past decade fits the definition of genocide, saying the pattern of targeted killings, destruction of churches, and displacement of Christian communities was deliberate.
‘When we are talking of genocide, is it because they have not killed many Christians? They also said that if any Muslim opposes their agenda, they will see that also as an enemy. We are not saying that they didn’t kill others, but there was genocide of Christians in Nigeria because they killed our members in large numbers,’ Ayokunle maintained.
Recalling his own experiences, Ayokunle narrated how he personally witnessed the aftermath of gruesome attacks in parts of Adamawa and Benue States.
‘Three weeks after I visited Mubi, they attacked Mubi and levelled Mubi down. I was an eyewitness. I saw many people they maimed in Benue State. They maimed people, cut hands, cut ears, as if they were inanimate objects that can be cut down anyhow. So if we are saying that there was genocide of Christians, why should anybody be disputing that?’
He further dismissed arguments suggesting that more Muslims were killed in the North, explaining that the population ratio and the sect’s ideology accounted for that.
‘Didn’t the people say that they will wipe away the Christians from the North? If you are saying now that they kill more Muslims in the North, don’t we have more Muslims than the Christians in the North? And besides, didn’t they say that if any Muslim who opposes them, they will wipe that person away? Killing of the Christians was not unintended; the real motive was to establish Islamic Sharia in the North and wipe away the Christians.’
Ayokunle reminded Nigerians that warnings about these violent sects were sounded long ago, even when he led CAN, yet little was done to stop them.
‘It is not now that we have been crying about the atrocities of the Islamic sects that had been violent and had been targeting Christians for a long period of time. When I was at the helm, I cried out because it is so painful when you are losing your members week after week, losing churches which it took our forefathers years to build, to an unreasonable sect that wanted to wipe away Christians from the North, and possibly from Nigeria.’
He backed his claims with data, citing reports by international bodies that documented Boko Haram’s deliberate campaign against Christians.
‘I’m not saying this just without data. Let me quote from the 2013 report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom:
‘Boko Haram is an Islamic sect that sees the federal and northern state governments, as well as political and religious elites, as morally corrupt. Boko Haram begets the West and the secular state and seeks the universal implementation of pure Sharia law.”
He added that ‘pure Sharia law’ as conceived by the sect meant the exclusion or elimination of Christians.
‘Their targets include churches, individual Christians, persons engaged in un-Islamic activities-those are Christians-Muslim critics, northern elders, schools, police stations, government buildings, newspapers, and banks.’
Citing further evidence, Ayokunle noted that the report documented several attacks specifically targeting Christians:
‘Boko Haram has attacked churches on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day three years in a row from 2010 to 2012, killing Christians and destroying churches. In January 2012, they called on Christians to leave northern Nigeria. On July 30 that same year, they attacked a Christian area of Kano, killing 45 and damaging churches. Earlier, they had bombed several churches after the government declared a state of emergency in three states.’