African Clergies Storm TCNN In North-Central To Approach Herders Killing ,Hoofs Desert Encroachment
Yakubu Busari
A partnership African Conference between Politician, Spirited individuals and Theologians with the view to address security challenges of Christian worshippers in the North-Central zone of the country has been declared open in Jos .
The conference tagged, Theological Education in Africa (TEA conference) seeking to deliberate on herders farmers clashes resulting from the effect of desert encroachment through hoofs ,destroying trees to feed their animals.
Speaking with our correspondent on the significant of the conference which they emphasis on the need for Churches (Christian) irrespective of denomination to come together and define a common goal stressing that government is not doing much to protect lives of Christian inspite killing by Fulani herdsmen .
Prof Tersur Aben ,is a renowned Profession of systematical philosophical Theology expressed concern over the level of destruction to farmland in North central Nigeria were Fulani herdsmen are now on rampage destroying crops ,killing and maiming innocent people.
According to him,the tea conference is bringing theologian’s & seminaries all over Africa to come and stay together and talk as a team on matter that is of interest this is a public theology and if you know what is going on in our environment especially the meddle belt there is no way that a Christian church can continue to dialogue just between themselves so we have to reach out to business people politician, with the economic recession in the country.
He lamented that the Christian in the North have continue to suffer a lot, churches suffered too so we have think of the way forward to the good of the Christian especially those in the meddle belt.
Prof Aben said ,this conference is aim at what will be our good response in a situation where Christians cannot be persecuted murdered and killed day in day out and no arrest has been made, so the church has to ask themselves questions what of our own identity as Nigerians.
He cautioned our people that how can we affirm our identity in this Christian community called Nigeria that’s what inform the reasons and issues of this conference.
Prof Aben has called on the federal Government to protect churches and maintain that , we want the church to be identify as an entity in Nigeria and to be given good protection and our lively hood which is farming and what we do so when you see people being chase out of farms with guns ,cutlasses all along.
“We want government to know that Christian church is a sizable constituency in this citizens called Nigeria, he explained.
The Prof further condemned the problems associated to ecological , global warming and desert encroachment of the desert what is going on in the land now you see encroachment into meddle belt by people from the Far north coming to meddle belt where agriculture is and as they are coming they are taking over the land this has to stop .
He accused herders of cutting down of trees bringing animal to eat all the grasses causing de forestation in the land and when the finish it the same the de forest the desert they will move to another place and the country will be in global experiencing warming.
He disclosed that taraba has been gradually overrun by Fulani herdsmen leading to heat in some area especially the Mambila Plateau were he’s calling on the people of the meddle belt to come together and stop this from happening they should stand and fight this desert encroachments.
