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Death sentence on 5 Christians: CAN urges Buhari to intervene

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6 years ago

June 20, 2018

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The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has called on President Muhammdu Buhari to ask the Adamawa state government not to implement the death sentence passed on five Christian youth in the state.

The youth were convicted by an Adamawa high court for “willfully and intentionally conspiring and attacking three herdsmen rearing cattle at Kadamun village in Demsa local government area, killing a herder in the process”.

Abdul-Azeez Waziri, the judge who handled the case, sentenced the convicts to death for culpable homicide.

In a statement on Tuesday, Samson Ayokunle, CAN president, identified the convicts as Alex Amos, Alheri Phanuel, Holy Boniface, Jerry Gideon and Jari Sabagi.

He said while the association does not support the killing, “hundreds of our members in southern Kaduna, Benue, Taraba and Plateau states in the north-central geo-political zones, and a state like Enugu in the south, have been killed.

The statement signed by Adebayo Oladeji, spokesman to the CAN president, noted that Chrsitians are being killed “on a daily basis” by suspected herdsmen who are “yet to be apprehended”.

“We are shocked at the speed of light deployed by security and judicial officers in sentencing the alleged killers of the herdsman in Adamawa state,” Ayokunle added.

“Why did the court discharge the alleged killers of Madam Bridget Agbahime on the orders of the Kano state government? Why have security officials not arrested those behind the killings of Christians in Southern Kaduna? While did Nigeria police set free those arrested for the murder of Mrs Eunice Elisha Olawale in Kubwa, Abuja.

“In view of this, CAN is calling on President Buhari to intervene in the death sentence passed on these Christian youths in Adamawa.”

Ayokunle said CAN has directed its legal team to secure and study the text of the judgment with a view to preventing “a miscarriage of justice and a future re-occurrence”.