The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has strongly warned against pushing Christians to the wall with incessant killings across the country.
The President of PFN, Dr Felix Omobude, said no law prohibits Christians from defending themselves when attacked and calls for peace does not signify weakness.
Omobude made this known at a meeting with Christians in Jos after condoling with Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong over penultimate weekend’s killing of over 200 persons in three LGAs of the state.
He said, “We call on the government to fish out the perpetrators of this evil across the land . We want to see them get punished ; we want to see them answer for their crimes . What has happened in the past, and when it happens like this , is that the most the government will say is to condemn it. We want to see beyond mere condemnation . We want those shielding these evil men to be exposed.
“We will continue to call on Christians to follow the path of peace in line with the injunctions of our faith . I want to sound it unequivocally that the people perpetrating this evil should not think they have a monopoly of violence. The peace drive and peace -making efforts of the church should not be misunderstood to be a weakness. If pushed to the wall , the church can react . There is no law that forbids Christians from defending themselves . We cannot continue to be on the receiving end.”
Omobude added, “On the occasion of this visit , the PFN is calling on the Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari to rise to the challenge and secure the lives and properties of Nigerians . It is the primary responsibility that the government owes the people.
“We call on the governments, federal and states , especially when we understand that one of the campaign promises of this present Federal Government was security, to protect lives and properties . Never in the history of this nation has innocent blood been shed across the land as we are witnessing . Our security agencies should rise to the challenge. A nation that cannot secure the lives and properties of her people is not yet free.”