PRESS STATEMENT BY C.A.N PRESIDENT, PST AYO ORITSEJAFOR RESPONDING TO SEN BUKAR ABBA IBRAHIM ON BOKO HARAM.

PRESS STATEMENT BY C.A.N PRESIDENT, PST AYO ORITSEJAFOR RESPONDING TO SEN BUKAR ABBA IBRAHIM ON BOKO HARAM.

The President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, notes with concern, the statement credited to Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, who was twice governor of Yobe State, that government must dialogue with the Boko Haram sect, while also insisting that the reason for the action of the sect is inequality, neglect and injustice.
“Pastor Oritsejafor believes that the statement by the Senator that ‘we can find a way really to help dialogue with this group; after all, they are all Nigerians at least as far as we know…’ is overly reckless, irresponsible and insensitive, just as it is a panacea for encouraging  the increasingly violent and daring sect.
“In the first place, he says, it is naïve for Senator Ibrahim to reason that if the Federal Government dialogue with Boko Haram, the sect would limit itself to concessions made when they have stated, clearly, that their aim is to do away with western education and enthrone the Islamic law of Sharia’ah.
“The President of CAN advises Ibrahim not to panic into making recommendations that are short-sighted and that as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he should not take counsel from only a section of a state or region.
“He expects Senator Ibrahim to help put the sect in strict subjection to the laws of the land, rather than treading the dangerous path of dialogue, which has always been truncated by harsh conditions from the sect members,” the statement read.
The CAN president said as two times governor of Yobe state, the likes of Ibrahim should be held responsible for the poverty ravaging the North and indeed the country today.
“If today, the people are fighting biting poverty, inequality and injustice as Senator Ibrahim would want us to believe, it is his likes that should be held responsible for being the sources of their poverty.
“In that case, Boko Haram’s anger should have been directed at leaders like Senator Abba Bukar Ibrahim who have not allowed their members to take full advantages of the vast economic opportunities that exist in Northern Nigeria”,