•Says terrorists attacks common assault not religious

From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri

Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has declared terrorist attacks in the North East as common assault on the united people rather than target on specific religion or faith group.

Zulum made the declaration at a meeting with Christian and Muslim leaders in the state held in the Government House, yesterday.

He said Borno has a unique family composition and dynamism of different faith in addition to its special geographical location in the country.

He said such uniqueness brings brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and other related family members of Christian and Islamic faiths together under the same roof. He urged religious leaders to uphold such virtue and reject the classification of violence in the area as religious, an apparent reference to the US President’s allegation of genocidal attacks on Christians in the north with specific concern on the North East.

“This is our reality. This is our strength. We must protect this sacred bond within our homes and allow it to define our individual, as well as intra- and cross-community engagements.

“The Boko Haram conflict is not a religious crisis. It is an assault on our civilisation, humanity, and all that we hold dear, irrespective of creed. The perpetrators of violence have killed, maimed, and displaced Muslims and Christians alike,” he declared.

While regretting the lives lost and property destroyed in the over a decade violence, Zulum maintained statistics available show more Muslims suffered the blood-let since July 2009.

“They have destroyed mosques and churches with equal impunity. The statistics of victims are stark and heart-breaking. While every single life lost is regrettable, the data clearly shows that the overwhelming majority of those who have suffered death, abduction, and displacements are our Muslim brothers and sisters. The number of Muslim victims is, tragically, more than that of our Christian compatriots.”

He said the meeting was organised to shape the co-existence between the two major religious communities in the state.

He thanked the religious leaders for always yielding to calls by hin for fasting and prayer over the protracted terrorist attacks in the state.

The religious heads were led by the state Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Most Rev John Bogna Bakeni and Chairman Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) in Borno, Sheik Jafar Ngamdu.