CAN demands Nigeria’s withdrawal from OIC, others

Christian leaders in the country on Tuesday called on the National Assembly to prevail on the Federal Government to withdraw from the Organisation of Islamic Conference and other international religious bodies.

They made the call at a gathering of prominent Christian leaders in the country at the Shepherdhill Baptist Church, Obanikoro, Lagos where they discussed the challenges facing the Church in the country.

Those  in attendance at the meeting called by the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev. Samson Ayokunle, included the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch  Adeboye; the Presiding Bishop, Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo; the General Overseer, The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, Archbishop Mike Okonkwo; and former CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor.

The media aide to the CAN president, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, said in a statement in Abuja that the forum condemned the government’s decision to lead Nigeria into the Islamic Coalition Against Terrorism through an executive fiat.

CAN also called on the National Assembly to prevail on states in the North to issue Certificates of Occupancy to churches in the region.

It said, “CAN calls on the National Assembly to compile the list of all organisations that Nigeria belongs to and all the treaties signed with a view to dropping all the religious ones.

“That we declare the inability of the state governments to pay workers’ salaries and allowances as and when due as unacceptable and call on the federal and state’s governments to work together to address this.”

The group also admonished the Federal Government to address the breakdown of infrastructure in the nation “so as to stop the untimely death of our people and medical tourism abroad.”

CAN advised the government to declare a state of emergency on unemployment in the nation and to set up a machinery towards the provision of employment for graduates.

It condemned the failure of the security agencies to stop the murderous Fulani herdsmen from their criminal activities and demanded the revival of the Nigerian Inter-religious Council, which it said, had fostered interaction between Christian and Muslim leaders in the country.