Archbishop Idowu-Fearon, a Nigerian who is the new secretary-general of the Anglican Communion, has told the BBC that Christian leaders sceptical of Muslim motives have hurt the Nigerian campaign against the militant Islamist sect Boko Haram. He said they believed Muslim leaders supported the insurgency that has left thousands of Christians and Muslims dead.
“We warned the leadership in my country, the Christian Association of Nigeria: ‘Let us listen to the Muslim leadership, because the leadership is not in support of Boko Haram,’ ” Idowu-Fearon is quoted as saying to the BBC. ” ‘Oh no no no,’ they said, ‘they are always deceiving us. They are all the same.’ ”
Those leaders now are “singing a different tune,” the archbishop said, now that so many people have been killed.
Meanwhile last week the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria held a closed-door meeting with the leaders of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), aimed at repositioning the Church in Nigeria under the country’s new Muslim President, Muhammadu Buhari.
CAN President Ayo Oritsejafor and his PFN counterpart, Dr. Felix Omobude, were hosted by Bishop Simeon Okah, PFN Vice President, South South. Okah told the press:
“We expected that after the elections, Boko Haram would have subsided. We are aware of the challenges with the economy. All we are looking for is peace in Nigeria. The ministry is broad and we said let’s put hands together and be focused on what we want.”