Christian elders insist FG planning to Islamize Nigeria

The National Christian Elders’ Forum, NCEF, has insisted that the Federal Government was planning to Islamise Nigeria through Jihad.

In a statement entitled, “Jihad in Nigeria: Burying The Head in Sand,” and signed by NCEF chairman, Solomon Asemota, SAN, the group contended that Islamists have been interfering in the governance of the country, using “Taqiyya” (approved deception) as “Stealth/Civilization Jihad.”

The eminent Christian elders had in July this year, alleged that the real problem with the country was that a Jihad had been launched in Nigeria.

According to the statement, “The objective of the Islamists (political Islam) is to supplant the constitution of Nigeria with Sharia ideology as the source of legislation in the nation.

“The conflict between democracy as national ideology and Sharia as a usurping ideology is responsible for the crisis unfolding in Nigeria. The nation is in the throes of Jihad.”

The the NCEF added that it was committed to the unity of Nigeria, stressing ‎that the duty of the leadership of the nation was to ensure that this unity was not sacrificed on the altar of sectarian interests and biases.

The statement added, “The NCEF is fully aware of the seriousness of these issues and wishes to share this information for the consideration of serious minds desirous of providing solutions to the myriad of problems confronting Nigeria.

“The NCEF has taken on this onerous task, not for the interest of the present Christian elders, most of whom are in the boarding lounge to eternity, but in the interest of the coming generations.”

It also challenged Muslim leaders, who were debunking the existence of a jihad in the Nigeria to clarify certain pronouncements over the issue, including declaration by Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, in one of his videos in 2012 that the war they were prosecuting was not political but religious.

The group recalled Shekau saying “It is between Muslims and unbelievers (arna). It will stop when Islamic religion is the determinant in governance in Nigeria or, in the alternative, when all fighters are annihilated and no one is left to continue the fight.

“I warn all Muslims at this juncture that any Muslim who assists an unbeliever in this war should consider himself an unbeliever and should consider himself dead.”

It concluded that “If the above statement is not a declaration of Jihad, could Muslim leaders explain what this means?’’