‘Trump’s designation of Nigeria as Country Of concern is a wake-up Call’- SKCLA

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The Southern Kaduna Christian Leaders Association (SKCLA), has described the recent designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Concern” by U.S. President, Donald Trump as a welcome development and a wake-up call for the nation’s leaders to address long-standing injustices against Christians in the North.
The Chairman of the association, Apostle Emmanuel Nuhu Kure in a statement on Tuesday said the declaration was “a long-overdue moment of truth” that highlights the plight of Christians in Northern Nigeria — a situation he accused successive governments of ignoring.
“For far too long, Christians in the North have been abandoned by the very nation that should protect them. Successive governments, northern Muslim leaders, and even some Christian leaders and governors have paid lip service to peace, human rights, and unity while systematic injustices continue”.
Apostle Kure, who is also a former National Secretary of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) lamented that Christians in many northern cities and institutions are denied the right to build churches, describing the situation as one that encourages extremist ideologies.
“This is not so in the South, which raises the question of whether we have separate governments within the same nation,” he added.
The cleric also accused authorities of failing to confront what he described as “a sustained pattern of persecution,” citing attacks in Benue and Plateau States, the killing of pastors in Southern Kaduna, and the neglect of critical infrastructure in Christian-dominated areas.
He called on the Federal Government to establish an independent inquiry to investigate the alleged persecution and urged churches across the country to speak out more boldly in defence of their faith and constitutional rights.