LAGOS (AFP) – The Nigerian police said Friday they had arrested a
governor’s aide over a church massacre and an attack on a military
patrol that killed 23 people, but his involvement was not clear.
The Gov. Idris Wada of Kogi has called on Muslims in the country to
imbibe the teaching of Ramadan and use the opportunity of the
Eid-El-Fitr to pray for national peace, progress and security.
The attacks this month were similar to scores blamed on Islamist
militant group Boko Haram, which has targeted Christians as well as the
security forces in a series of gun raids and suicide blasts.
Kogi state police chief Muhammed Katsina said that special adviser
to the state governor Yahaya Karaku and four others “are being detained
and interrogated over their suspected involvement in the attacks on the
Deeper Life Church and military patrol team”.
Gunmen stormed the evangelical church on August 6 in Okene in Kogi
state, cut the electricity and opened fire on worshippers, killing 19
people including the pastor.
The following day, assailants shot at troops patrolling outside a
government building in the city, sparking an exchange of gunfire that
left two soldiers and two of the gunmen dead.
“We want to determine the involvement of these five suspects in
these attacks as well as arms and ammunition recovered in Okene and its
environs,” Katsina told AFP.
“We want to trace the sources of these arms and those behind the attacks.”
Kogi state government spokesman Jacob Edi confirmed the arrests of
Karaku and Abubakar Adagu, a former local government council chairman,
vowing that officials would not protect them if they are found culpable.
“The law must take it course,” Edi told AFP.
It was not clear who carried out the church killings or whether the
two attacks were linked, although a police spokesman has said there was
“suspicion” that the same group was responsible for both assaults.
The police also previously said they had raided a suspected hideout
of militants who carried out attacks in the state, arresting a key
leader and two other suspects.
The Islamist sect Boko Haram, which has said it wants to create an
Islamic state in the north, is believed to include a number of
factions, including those with local political links.
The group has killed more than 1,400 people since 2010 in attacks
across northern and central Nigeria, according to Human Rights Watch
Eid-el–Fitr: Gov Wada urges Muslims to pray for peace
Gov. Idris Wada of Kogi has called on Muslims in the country to imbibe
the teaching of Ramadan and use the opportunity of the Eid-El-Fitr to
pray for national peace, progress and security.
Wada made the call in an Eid-el-Fitr message, issued by his Special
Adviser on Media and Strategy, Mr Jacob Edi, in Lokoja on Friday.
The governor, who also congratulated Muslims on the successful
completion of the Ramadan fast, called for mutual trust among the
adherents of different faiths.
He said that peaceful co-existence and positive development could only be achieved in an atmosphere of religious tolerance.
“We will achieve nothing in an atmosphere of insecurity, mutual
distrust, crisis and violence. I enjoin all of us irrespective of
religious belief to pray to God for peace and progress of our state.
“There can be no meaningful development without peace, our state is
known for peace and anything that will affect or change this reality
should not be encouraged.
“We must rise against any form of evil in our state,” the governor said.
He urged the people to celebrate the Eid–el-Fitr peacefully and be law abiding.
source vanguard online newspaper
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