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#EndSARS: Presidency should stop blame game- CAN, NSCIA
By Modupe Shodeinde
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) have criticised Presidential Aide for accusing religious bodies of spreading hate messages through the #EndSARS protest.
This is in reaction to an article, by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, titled ‘If Nigeria dies, hatred killed her,’ where he attributed the nationwide EndSARS protest to hate messages from churches and mosques.
According to Adesina, the protest had begun with a clear purpose; agitation against police brutality in the country, but he said it derailed and became a vehicle of hate messages used by churches and mosques to spread a message of division.
Part of the article read: “Hatred came into the mix. From hateful messages from the pulpit, as if that was the message of love Jesus Christ handed over to his followers; from unduly critical messages during Juma’at services; from radio and television programmes, in which bile is spewed.
He also stated that churches and mosques were among many sources where hatred evinced for Nigeria, and for its government.
However, the CAN and NSCIA on Friday, have faulted the reasoning of the Presidential aide and asked the government to find ways to resolve issues instead of attributing blames.
The Special Adviser to the CAN President, Pastor Bayo Oladeji said the church would only seek the well being of the people and not praise sing the government.
He said that the church cannot be held accountable for decisions taken by the government to use force in dealing with the protesters and the government never sought counsel from the church before taking any action.
“Right from the outset of this government to date, its functionaries and spokespersons are notorious for blame game. They have never owned up like Adam and Eve who threw themselves out of the Garden of Eden as a result of blame game.” He stated
The association reiterated its position in the present situation is “the position of the United Nations, global citizens and some eminent citizens who havespoken”
The NSCIA head of Media and Publicity, Ibrahim Aselemi, said that the Islamic body had always taken a stand against hate speech and sensitised its spiritual leader on its injurious effects.
“The council has cautioned imams that hate speech is not free speech. So I don’t know with the greatest respect where the President’s spokesman got his information.”
