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Okoh deplores herdsmen for unending killings, tasks them on self-education

By Segun Olaniyi, Anthony Otaru (Abuja), Julius Osahon (Yenagoa) and Saxone Akhaine (Kaduna)
04 December 2017   |   3:21 am
The Archbishop of Abuja Province and Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Reverend Nicholas Okoh, yesterday cautioned herdsmen to stop the killing of innocent Nigerians in the name of grazing their cattle.

Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, Primate of all Nigeria (Anglican Communion)

• Bayelsa govt condemns murder of cattle dealers in Yenagoa
• HURIWA urges Buhari to declare cattle rustlers as terrorists

The Archbishop of Abuja Province and Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Reverend Nicholas Okoh, yesterday cautioned herdsmen to stop the killing of innocent Nigerians in the name of grazing their cattle.He stressed that no matter the pretence, no single group could rule Nigeria alone successfully without the support of other ethnic nationalities.

He, however, charge them on self-education and examination in their own interest and that of the country.Okoh said this yesterday in Abuja in a message during the 2017 Carnival For Christ thanksgiving service organised by the Church to mark its 28th anniversary in Nigeria.

Drawing his Lesson from John 8 verse 31-40, Venerable Nnamdi Okpuno quoted Jesus Christ as saying: “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Then Jesus said to the Jews who believed him that if you abide in my word, you are my disciple indeed.

He used the occasion to call on Christians in Nigeria to live a truthful life and continue to abide by the teachings of Jesus Christ to attain their full potential.

In a related development, the Bayelsa State government has called on the Police, the Department of State Service (DSS) and other security agencies to apprehend the killers of a prominent cattle dealer, Jibril Abdulkarim and three of his aides on Saturday.

Abdulkarim, who was a member of the State Committee for the Management and Control of Ranches and Chairman Cattle Breeders Association (CBA) in the state and three of his aides were shot dead at his private abattoir in Yenagoa.

Chief of Staff, Government House, Talford Ongolo, who represented Governor Seriake Dickson, in a visit to commiserate with the families of the deceased, condemned what he described as a reprehensible act.He assured the families of the state government’s determination to collaborate with the security agencies to ensure that those behind the heinous acts are arrested and brought to justice.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to shun tribalism and ethnic jingoism by proscribing armed herdsmen and their association as terrorists.It said the Federal Government should, therefore, take military and administrative measures to disarm the herdsmen, as well as arrest and prosecute those responsible for the killings of innocent Nigerians across the country. 

In a statement by Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director, Zainab Yusuf in Abuja, yesterday, the group said a study it conducted in the last two years, showed that armed herdsmen have wasted over 6,000 innocent lives in the country.
It lamented the Federal Government’s deliberate failure to stop the killings and bring the killers to book.

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