Tolerance

The scene was the cemetery of the Goodnews Church of Christ, Maiduguri, where its Pastor, George Orji, killed during the crisis by the fundamentalists, was buried yesterday in Maiduguri, Borno State capital. Three pastors and 15 other Christians were allegedly killed by the sect members during the violence.

But Northern Elders under the auspices of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) yesterday attributed such crisis in the country to the prevailing poverty and deprivation which they said the Federal Government has failed to address.

The Arewa Leaders said that Nigerians should see the Boko Haram mayhem in Bauchi, Yobe, Borno and Kano states, with the prolonged agitation by Niger Delta militants as protests by "those who feel aggrieved by the prevailing conditions in the country", noting that "this attitude is agitated by the widening gap between our affluent and ostentatious leaders and the broad masses of the poverty stricken and deprived people".

Also present at the meeting of its Board of Trustees (BOT) under the leadership of retired Lt.-General Jeremiah Useni in Kaduna to deliberate on emerging national issues were the ACF Chairman, General Ibrahim Haruna (rtd); Secretary General, Colonel Musa Shehu (rtd) and several other Arewa leaders.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Thomas Ali, a survivor along with other Christians, claimed that apart from being forced to adopt Islam, they were not freed after their conversion.

Ali alleged that some Christians were killed by the Islamic group, who also burnt 20 churches and killed the three pastors on Monday, July 27, 2009.

He told The Guardian that he was forced by the sect members to undergo some Islamic rites of initiation but could not recall how he escaped from the group's den.

Mr. Emmanuel Ndah, who was abducted along with Orji said: "When we told them our names, they knew that we were not Moslems and asked whether we would denounce our faith and accept Islam. However, Pastor Orji encouraged us not to accept Islam but to hold unto what we believe in. He was singing and praying all through and encouraging the believers not to give up even unto death.

"It was his encouragement that kept us till the time we were released. But the men outside killed so many of us Christians who were even forced into Islam. I could not say how I survived it, but I did by the Grace of God."