CAN queries speed of conviction of 5 Christian youths who allegedly killed Fulani herdsman

Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has reacted to the recent death sentence passed on five Christian youths by a High Court in Adamawa State over the alleged murder of a Fulani herdsman.

The group also queried the speed with which the five youths were arraigned, prosecuted and sentenced, when cases of killings of some Christians in the past have been inconclusive after a long time.

The Christian body said that President Muhammadu Buhari should intervene in the matter and ensure that the government of Adamawa State does not hastily implement the death sentence passed on the five youths.

CAN reaction was contained in a statement on Tuesday, by Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, special assistant on media to CAN President, Rev Dr. Samson Olasupo Ayokunle.

The youths, Alex Amos, Alheri Phanuel, Holy Boniface, Jerry Gideon and Jari Sabagi, were recently sentenced to death for culpable homicide by the court presided over by Justice Abdul-Azeez Waziri.

They were said to have willfully and intentionally conspired and attacked three herdsmen rearing cattle, killing one of them, Adamu Buba, and threw his body into a river on June 1, 2017, at Kadamun village in Demsa Local Government Area.

But CAN said in its reaction, “We note with regret how hundreds of our members in Southern Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, Plateau states in the North-central geo-political zones, and a state like Enugu in the South, have been killed and are still being killed on a daily basis by some criminals parading themselves as Fulani herdsmen, but are yet to be apprehended.

“While citizens stood helpless at the massacre of their peaceful fellow Nigerians, the international community watched in anguish how government security agencies could not bring perpetrators of these heinous killings to book.

“We recall with sadness how President Donald Trump had expressed sadness over killings of Christians in Nigeria and even told President Muhammadu Buhari when he recently visited the White House in Washington DC that the United States of America would no longer tolerate a situation where Christians are being killed with impunity.

“Despite the outrage that has trailed the killings of Christians in Nigeria, it is disheartening that none of the killers has been brought to justice. We are shocked at the speed of light deployed by security and judicial officers in sentencing the alleged killers of the herdsman in Adamawa state.

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“Why did the court discharge the alleged killers of Madam Bridget Agbahime on the orders of the Kano State Government? Why have security officials not arrested those behind the killings of Christians in Southern Kaduna, while those arrested for the murder of Mrs. Eunice Elisha Olawale in Kubwa, Abuja, have been set free by the Nigeria Police?

“In view of the above, we are asking President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the death sentence passed on these Christian youths in Adamawa. We have called on our legal team to secure and study the text of the judgment with a view to preventing a miscarriage of justice and a future re-occurrence.”

 

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