The Presidency has urged the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to desist from disinformation which can further divide Nigerians.<\/p>\n
Mr Femi Adesina, the President\u2019s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, made the call in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Adesina was reacting to what he described as \u201dunfounded allegations by the Christian Association of Nigeria about the payment or non-payment of ransom for the release of the Chibok and Dapchi schoolgirls.\u201d<\/p>\n
The CAN\u2019s Director of Legal and Public Affairs, Kwamkur Samuel, was quoted in the traditional and social media outfits to have said inter alia: \u201cNigerians need to know, if they have not known the reason why the Presidency could not pay ransom to rescue Chibok girls. It is because 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the girls are Christians.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201dThe reason why Dapchi girls\u2019 ransom was quickly paid and they were returned is the discovery that most of the girls were Muslims except Leah Sharibu who is still in captivity.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the presidential aide, who recalled that similar allegation was made by the media in Aug. 2018 when they quoted a UN Report alleging that the Federal Government paid a \u201chuge ransom\u201d for the release of the abducted Dapchi schoolgirls on March 21, 2018.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201dThe Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, immediately disputed the report, insisting that no ransom was paid, little or huge.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThere must be a conclusive evidence to support such a claim. Without that, the claim remains what it is \u2013 a mere conjecture.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adesina, therefore, maintained that \u201dthe letter and spirit of the Holy Bible do not support discord, which CAN\u2019s allegations were liable to cause.<\/p>\n
\u201dThe Christian body needs not be antagonistic to every attempt by the administration to move Nigeria forward, before it can champion or defend the Christian faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Buhari had made it very clear in 2015 that if ransom needed to be paid to free the Chibok schoolgirls, he would pay.<\/p>\n
\u201dThat is a testament to his commitment to get the girls back.<\/p>\n
\u201dNotwithstanding our different faiths, we are all stakeholders in the promotion of peace in our fatherland. And the Holy Bible enjoins us to seek peace, and pursue it,\u201d Adesina said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Presidency has urged the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to desist from disinformation which can further divide Nigerians. Mr Femi Adesina, the President\u2019s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, made the call in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday. Adesina was reacting to what he described as \u201dunfounded allegations by the Christian Association of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":20923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[663,616,158],"class_list":["post-20963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-can","tag-leah-sharibu","tag-presidency"],"yoast_head":"\n