The National Christian Elders Forum has slammed the Federal Government for its “collusion or cover-up ” in the farmers/herdsmen’s clashes in the country. The group was reacting to the United Kingdom’s investigation of the clashes.
The NCEF, in a letter to the UK Parliament’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief, dated June 3, claimed that the Federal Government failed to arrest high-profile suspects sponsoring herdsmen to attack farmers in parts of the country.
The UK Parliament APPG in its letter to the NCEF, said, “One of the objectives of the inquiry is to develop a nuanced understanding of the drivers of the conflict and to find possible solutions to the violence. The APPG will welcome written submissions which provide evidence-based answers to some or all of these questions”.
In its response to the inquiry on Tuesday, the Christian elders said in a statement, “When these terrorists are arrested, they are rehabilitated and sent back into society. On the evidence of support, one of our members and a former Chief of Army Staff had to call on Nigerians to resort to self-defence when the telephone of a terrorist was discovered to contain numbers of government’s top officials.
“No commission of enquiry was set up, but a committee of the military was alleged to have found the military blameless. Today all ethnic nationalities have been advised to resort to self-help. The action taken so far by the government suggests collusion or cover-up.”