Outrage trails Kaduna youths attack on carpenter during Ramadan

Some eminent Nigerians and groups on Thursday condemned the attack on a carpenter, Francis Emmanuel, by some Muslim youths in the Kakuri area of Kaduna on Wednesday for eating during Ramadan.


The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Matthew Kukah; the Christian Association of Nigeria and a human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, said the attack on Emmanuel was the height of growing intolerance in the land.

They demanded that the perpetrators of the dastardly act be apprehended and severely punished to serve as a deterrent to others.

Kukah, who is the Founder of the Kukah Centre for Faith, Leadership and Public Policy, said the perpetrators should be tried and punished in line with the laws of the country.

The cleric spoke with journalists on Thursday evening ahead of his forthcoming event entitled ‘Fixing Nigeria Initiative’.

He also decried the high level of extremism in the country occasioned by the brutal killing of 74-year-old Mrs Bridget Agbahime in Kano, calling on the government to expedite action in bringing the criminals to book.

Kukah added, “The ugly things we have seen in the last one week are ungodly and totally unacceptable. Somebody goes out to buy food and you attack him and say, ‘why are you not fasting?’ It is totally unacceptable. The culprits must be arrested, tried and punished. There is no other way you can end this impunity.”

In his reaction, the Director of National Issues in the Christian Association of Nigeria, Mr. Sunny Oibe, described those who attacked the Kaduna carpenter and the perpetrators of the Kano killing as enemies of the people, who should be brought to book.

Oibe added, “The people who kill and go into violence and their sponsors are enemies of Nigerians and they are not supposed to live. They are animals, beasts and should be confined to where they belong.

“The attack on the carpenter for allegedly eating when Muslims were fasting goes to show the level of intolerance of some people, particularly some of our Muslims.

“Even if somebody refuses to fast, nobody has the right to embark on such animalistic behaviour of attempting murder.

“We, in CAN, will ask the security agencies to ensure that this matter is not swept under the carpet. The perpetrators should be brought to book to serve as a deterrent to others because the laws of this country forbid taking the lives of another.

“The government should therefore live up to its bidding and bring the perpetrators and their sponsors to book.”

Also, human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), said government acted too late to arrest and arraign those who stabbed Emannuel, the carpenter, for eating during the Ramadan in Kaduna.

He said had government acted promptly, the perpetrators should have been arrested and arraigned to serve as a deterrent to others.

“It is already too late now. The perpetrators should have been immediately arrested and arraigned to serve as a deterrent to others,” Falana said.

He said the incident was part of the growing wave of religious intolerance in the country which he blamed on both the federal and state governments as well as political leaders for their failure to separate the affairs of government from religion.

According to him, if Nigeria must address the issue of religious intolerance, government at all levels must strictly adhere to the provisions of Section 10 of the constitution which declare the nation as a secular state.

He said, “The Federal Government and all the state governments or rather the ruling elite should be blamed for the religious intolerance in the country.

“Some members of the ruling class have, for political reasons, adopted two religions contrary to the provisions of the constitution that the state shall not promote any religion.

“During Christmas and Sallah, government officials buy rice, rams and vegetable oil for the rich people. Government sponsors Muslims to Mecca and Christians to Jerusalem. All these are illegal.

“Some of the religious leaders who are now condemning this kind of violence have also discouraged the state from separating the affairs of the state from religion.

“This is why the people supporting them are becoming extremists. Any political leader, any religious leader that wants us to address this problem must encourage the separation of religion from the affairs of the state.”

Curiously, the Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents said he was not aware of the carpenter who was attacked in Kaduna by some Muslim youths because he ate in the afternoon while they were fasting.

Oloyede, a former vice-chancellor, added that he was not aware of the killing of Agbahime by irate Muslims for alleged blasphemy.

He said, “I am in the mosque. I have not heard about the matter of the carpenter. I have not also heard of the woman that was killed.”

Kukah argued that the report of the 2014 National Conference could not be thrown away as indicated by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He stated, “President Muhammadu Buhari cannot throw it (report) away; archives are archives. Thank God the President did not say he will throw it to the dustbin. We are not in a military regime. The President cannot wake up and say the National Assembly should be closed. A lot of the powers have been taken (away) from the President,”

He added, “I do not think the problems of the Niger Delta or the South-East or of Nigeria can be resolved by the kind of people who present themselves as Boko Haram or those who claimed to be Avengers; it is a measure of irresponsibility, the extent to which the intellectual class have relinquished their responsibilities.

“I don’t think Avengers are speaking for anybody, other than themselves, I don’t think IPOB is speaking for anybody other than themselves. But we have created them. Somebody left the window opened. Their agitations are legitimate, but not through violence. We are in a democracy, people should be free to express themselves.”

The cleric believed that instead of politicising Buhari’s medical trip to London, Nigerians should rather pray for the President.

He said, “All I can say as a priest is that I have done what I have to do: to pray. Any health of Nigerian should not be a subject of politics or speculations. It’s something I found troubling. The responsibility we have is to pray for the President.”

Kukah also bemoaned the poor performance of the National Assembly, saying that in the last one year, “it is unfortunate that the only thing we have been concerned with the National Assembly is the fate of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.”

On the ‘Fixing Nigeria Initiative’, Kukah stated, “A major challenge of Nigeria’s democracy is the abject lack of citizens’ engagement in debating, and more importantly, in shaping public policies that often have dramatic impact on their lives.

“The importance of robust debates can never be overemphasised in a democracy. If free and fair elections mark the basic validation of democratic mandates, citizens’ involvement in public policy-making is the oxygen for democratic governance.

“It is in part to address this problem that the Kukah Centre was established to serve as a platform for mediation between the government and the people. The importance of such a mediating platform is underscored by the great deal of public cynicism towards government and the mutual distrust between public officials and citizens.”