A religious group, National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) has condemned a statement by an Iranian analyst who said the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) was part of a conspiracy to destroy Shi’ite Muslims in Nigeria.
Recall that a clash between the soldiers in the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, and members of a Shi’a group, Islamic Movement of Nigeria, earlier in the month left scores dead.
While the Army claimed that the Shi’ites tried to murder the Army Chief, the Shi’ites on the other hand accused the Army of perpetrating violence on defenceless people.
According to a statement from NCEF, the Iranian lecturer who was an analyst on a programme on Iran’s Press TV alleged that there was a conspiracy to destroy Shi’ite Muslims in Nigeria, a plot which he said comprised CAN, Boko Haram and the Nigerian military.
The NCEF statement signed by its Chairman, Solomon Asemota, read in part: “The National Christian Elders Forum wishes to refute publicly and stridently that there is no iota of truth in a video report credited to an Iranian television station in which an Iranian lecturer posited that a “triangle of evil” composing of the Nigerian Army, Boko Haram, and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have combined to destroy Shiites in Nigeria!”
“Apart from its sheer absurdity, this dangerous statement should not be dismissed because it is calculated to beat the drums of war in far away Iran to mobilize Muslim Shiites to attack Nigerian Christians.”