There’s no reason to deceive ourselves, battle against insurgency not over yet – CAN President

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) President, Reverend Samson Ayokunle, on Monday said that the battle to end killings by Boko Haram insurgents and other criminal elements in northern Nigeria is still not won yet.

Ayokunle, who said there was no reason for Nigerians to deceive themselves that the battle has been won, however noted that the end of the battled “is in sight if we don’t give up.”

He stated this as he visited Maiduguri, Borno State capital, one of the states that have remained under Boko Haram onslaught, to assess the devastation caused by the insurgents in the North-East.

Noting that Nigeria needs help to come out of the conflict, Ayokunle added that displaced citizens of that part of the country deserve to return to their place of habitat, instead of being Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

“There is no reason to deceive ourselves, it is not over yet, the battle is not won yet and we need to know that the end is in sight if we don’t give up.

“As long as you continue to see IDPs it means that we have not reached the end of the matter people ought to go back to their places of residence where they were born where they have their means of living,” he said.

He disclosed that the Christian body has been engaging in several advocacy meetings to source for support and collaborations from the international community in order to ensure there is an end to insurgency in Nigeria.

“We have been speaking, making advocacy and we have taken our advocacy beyond the shores of Nigeria. I’ve gone to Washington DC, met the House of Reps Committee Chairman, Chris Meat, on the problems of insurgency and the devastation it had caused in Nigeria and the world should come to our aid,” he said.

Speaking on killings in Zamfara, a state in Nigeria’s North West, Ayokunle suspected complicity on the part of community leaders and government for the unending activities of bandits in the state, which have lead to deaths of several innocent citizens.

“To me, to some extent, the government allowed it; if the people in power, people supervise communities, are not in support in any way, if they are not benefiting from it, then the thing would have been nipped in the bud. How can I be the leader of a community and unwanted elements are rising up. Will I not quickly nip it in the bud?

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“I am advocating that the leaders of the communities and the agents of the government will be sincere enough and be patriotic beyond economic returns to expose the unscrupulous elements within the community so that the rest might be able to live their lives, fulfill their dreams, because they don’t have two lives to live,” he said.

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