CAN to FG: End delay, denial over attacks on Christian communities
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has urged the federal government to end what it called the “delay or denial” in addressing the ongoing violence against Christian communities across the country, especially in the north.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, October 8, 2025, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, president of CAN, said Christian communities have continued to suffer “severe attacks, loss of life, and the destruction of places of worship.”
He added that the association’s repeated appeals for justice and protection have been “too often met with delay or denial” by the relevant authorities.
CAN said it has consistently engaged both local and international partners, petitioned the International Criminal Court (ICC), and documented religiously motivated killings in its bid to secure justice for persecuted groups.
“Our persistence is not about politics,” the statement read. “It is about the sanctity of human life and the need for justice. The Nigerian state must demonstrate that no community’s pain is invisible or unworthy of protection.”
Security analysts say CAN’s frustration echoes a long-standing weakness in Nigeria’s counter-violence strategy—execution failures rather than intelligence gaps.
Kehinde Giwa, a security analyst at SBM Intelligence, said most large-scale attacks occur despite clear early warnings.
“The tragedy we document repeatedly is not an absence of intelligence,” Giwa said. “It is the failure to act on actionable warnings due to weak accountability within the security chain.”
Historical roots of violence
Nigeria’s religious tensions trace back to the colonial-era merger of the predominantly Muslim north and Christian south. Many of today’s conflicts—especially in the Middle Belt—take on religious tones despite being driven by competition over scarce land and water resources between mostly Muslim pastoralists and Christian farmers.
These pressures, analysts say, are compounded by the activities of extremist groups and the spread of banditry.
CAN warned that the government must “redouble efforts towards equitable protection for all,” adding that failure to act risks deepening divisions and displacing vulnerable communities.
Archbishop Okoh concluded by calling for honesty and courage in confronting the crisis.
“Nigeria’s healing will not come from denial or blame,” he said. “It will come from courage—the courage to face our collective failures, to grieve together, and to rebuild trust.”
The association also called for the swift and transparent prosecution of perpetrators, warning that continued impunity risks reducing human suffering to “mere statistics.”
