HURIWA reports Buhari, El Rufai to Vatican, US over abduction of seminarians
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has voted to petition President Muhammadu Buhari, and Kaduna State governor, Nasir El’Rufai before the Holy See in the Vatican City, United States President, Donald Trump over the adoption of seminarians by suspected bandits, last week.
In a statement issued by the National Coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko and National Media Affairs Director, Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA said it decided to tell the world leaders that both the “Kaduna State political authority and the Presidency of Nigeria are treating with levity the grave threats of extinctions and genocide that Christians are subjected to.”
According to them, “the four seminarians, between the ages of 18 and 23, were abducted on Wednesday night recently from their seminary in Kaduna, in northwestern Nigeria.
“Pius Kanwai, 19, Peter Umenukor, 23, Stephen Amos, 23, and Michael Nnadi, 18, were taken from Good Shepherd Seminary in Kaduna, around 10:30 pm on Jan. 8 by gunmen. Police are searching for the four young men.
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“HURIWA is hereby endorsing the position that the security situation in Nigeria is appalling,” as was observed by Heine-Geldern, executive president of ACN International, who reported correctly that criminal gangs are further exploiting the chaotic situation and making matters still worse.”
In another development, the rights group claimed that the “gross disrespect for federal character principle in Kaduna State which culminated in the emergence of a governor, deputy governor and speaker, House of Assembly who are all Muslims and consigning millions of Christians to the inglorious position of second class citizens, is the canon fodder for the spiraling armed attacks by armed Islamists masquerading as herdsmen, kidnappers and bandits who have in the past one year or more specifically targeted Christian communities and schools in Kaduna State.
“On the last count virtually all major Christian denominations in Kaduna State have witnessed dozens of attacks just as dozens of pastors have died in the cause of these targeted armed invasions and kidnapping.
“We are not accusing the Kaduna State government of involvements but we are worried about the conspiratorial silence to these series of attacks.”
The group wants politicians of Kaduna State to respect “Section 14(3) of the constitution which obliges the appointments of all ethno-religious community members into strategic offices but in 2019 election; the governor made sure only Muslims are railroaded into the offices of governor, deputy and even the office of speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly.”
