- The Christian Association of Nigeria Youth Wing (YOWICAN) said the recent fire incident on House on the Rock was an attack on Christianity
-YOWICAN issued an open-ultimatum to the federal government to respond to its series of allegations concerning alleged attacks on Christians
The youth wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has alleged that the recent fire incident on the House on the Rock Church, Abuja was actually an attack.
The youth wing also affirmed the claim by Prophet TB Joshua that his Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in Ikotun area of Nigeria was attacked leading to the collapse of a building that killed scores of followers on September 12, 2014.
According to the group, which said it was leaning on intelligence information at its disposal, the attacks on Christians in Nigeria are perpetrated by those who do not want the religion to grow.
Prophet TB Joshua has often insisted that the Synagogue Church of All Nations was attacked
At a press conference in Abuja, the organisation asked that Prophet Joshua should be compensated instead of being charged by the authorities.
“The Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (YOWICAN) and the entire congregation of Christians in Nigeria conclude, therefore, that there is a conscious and vehemently sustained move to submerge, subdue and systematically exterminate the existence and sustainability of Christianity and Christians in Nigeria,” the group said in a lengthy statement obtained by NAIJ.com.
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The organisation also listed some alleged attacks on Christians to include reported removal of Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) from the curriculum of the Nigerian educational system, the killings in southern Kaduna, the recent attack on a pastor of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) serving under Keffi district council (15 Kilometers from the Federal Capital Territory Abuja) and the recent bombing of the Missionary Hospital in Bornu state.
Claiming that all the attacks were premeditated, Engr Daniel David Kadzai, the national president of the organisation, said further: “We wish to emphatically make this point clear that we are not naive of these machinations and that the time of political correctness, where such matters, when known, were swept under the carpet and played as low as possible, is over."
He claimed that these attacks are sponsored by alleged religious fundamentalists and their sponsors who are highly influential across the world.
“The Christian community is fully aware of their strategic plans and is watching closely to bring to further clarity, their intents.
“It is in this same vein that YOWICAN calls on the government of Nigeria to mobilise as a matter of urgency, all it’s law enforcement and diplomatic apparatuses for the purpose of further investigating the matter, beef up security and begin enquiry and ascertain their position on the matters raised here whilst also using and effectively engaging their benefit of ‘state power’ to probe most of these countries and groups who are involved in these crimes against the Christian community in Nigeria.
“Also, the Nigerian government should open up investigations as soon as possible to ascertain the immediate and remote cause of specifically, the SCOAN building church attack to bring those culpable of this heinous crime to this church to book and also come up with an appropriate compensation to SCOAN for the embarrassment and damage to both the image of this church and Christianity in Nigeria.
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“We wish to make it clear that as a religion, known and practised in many countries of the world, and one that has a track record of championing peace and respect of humanity and life as evident in the teachings of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Christianity and Christians in Nigeria refuse to be intimidated by any uncivilised conquest of any fundamentalist religious sect and their so-called sponsors,” the group alleged.
The organisation demanded that the federal government responded to its allegations in the coming weeks with a report of its investigation, findings and immediate solutions.
NAIJ.com had earlier reported that the House of Rock church in Abuja was gutted by fire.
The report said the church, founded by Pastor Paul Adefarasin, caught fire in the afternoon of Sunday June 25.
Watcj video of the House on the Rock on fire:
