20 million displaced Christians must vote, says CAN

The Director of National Issues and Social Welfare in the Christians Association of Nigeria, Mr. Sunday Oibe, has said that the February general elections would only be said to be free and fair if the over 20 million Christians displaced by the Boko Haram violence in the North-East are allowed to vote.

Oibe, who spoke in Abuja during a donation by CAN to the IDPs in New Kunchingoro, said, “The chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, should do everything to ensure that Christians that have been displaced from the North- East cast their votes. We have churches that had their headquarters, like the EYN in Maiduguri. They have been displaced with over three million people scattered all over the country.

“If over 20 million Christians displaced from the North-East do not cast their votes, how can you say that the elections are credible and acceptable? We wanted to meet with Prof. Jega on the topic last week.

He gave us an appointment but reneged at the last minute, so we are calling on Jega to ensure that IDPs, particularly Christians displaced from the North-East cast their votes, or we will not accept it.”

Meanwhile, the more than 700 IDPs in New Kunchingoro, Abuja, have protested against their neglect by the Federal Government, saying they now rely on charity from churches and individuals for survival.

The IDPs were relocated from the Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State in January 2014 when the town was taken over by members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect. Spokesperson for the IDPs, Mr. Philemon Emmanuel, an indigene of Gwoza, accused the government of neglect during the donation by the President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor. Oritsejafor was represented at the event by the Chairman of CAN in the Federal Capital Territory, Rev. Israel Akanji. Emmanuel said that since they had been in the camp in January 2014, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency only visited once in October 2014 to register their names.

He said, “We are still waiting for the government till today. We have been surviving on charity because some good people, churches and individuals and organisations come here to help us on daily basis with food items, clothes and other things, while some churches do bring health workers to take care of our health situation.

“The government has not done what it promised for us; we have been living on charity. We are over 700 people here, including men, women and children. We want the Federal Government to take us to the place they promised us because we are not supposed to be living in this kind of houses.

“There is nothing like water here; we depend on stream water to survive. They promised us that they will take us to a better place with water, electricity, health centre and other basic amenities, we are yet to see anything.”

The FCT CAN chairman told the IDPs that he would tell the FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed, what he had seen. He said that the FCT administration had been working hard on having a better place for the IDPs.

He said, “In order to get this done, he (FCT minister) made the committee to be wide by including all stakeholders to the point that I am a member of that committee. A vast land has been acquired, the design has been made and it is being built.

Probably in a month’s time, it would be completed because the FCT government has been committed to it.

“They do not want to take people to where there is no water, light and other basic amenities. Although not a permanent place, because we are not praying that they should remain permanently as IDPs, that everyone should be reintegrated back to his community when the time is right.”

FROM KROCCITYONTV