The leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria and the League of Imams and Alfas in Ogun State have signed a pact to continue living in harmony.
This move to instil peace and harmony among adherents of the two religions followed the massacre at St Francis Catholic Church, Owa-Iuwa, Owo in Ondo state.
The leaders of the two religions, according to The Punch, struck the deal on Wednesday when a delegation of the League of Imams and Alfas submitted a condolence letter over the attack of Christians in Owo to the CAN Chairman, Bishop Tunde Akin-Akinsanya.
SaharaReporters had reported that gunmen suspected to be Islamic terrorists, invaded St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, killed no fewer than 40 worshippers and injured several others, some of whom are still receiving treatment in various hospitals in the state. People, groups and countries have condemned the attack, describing it as evil and unprovoked.
But according to the report, the Secretary-General of the League of Imams and Alfas, Sheikh Tajudeen Adewunmi, led the Islamic leaders in the condolence visit to the CAN Chairman at the organisation’s Abeokuta office.
Adewunmi who was accompanied by Imam of Makun, Sagamu, Dr. Tajudeen Ashaye, and other religious leaders across the state described the Owo attack as unfortunate, saying that Muslims in the state were pained by the incident.
He said there was no reason why any Muslim should invade a church or attack any Christian in the name of religion.
He said, “We decided to pay a condolence visit to you on behalf of all Muslims in the state over the Owo incident.
“We are here to show our displeasure to the killings and to also assure you that Muslims are not killers and will not attack Christians in the state.
“We have seen ourselves as a family and we will continue to relate as such. We have Christians and Muslims in our families. We have no reason to attack ourselves."
“On behalf of the entire Muslims in Ogun State, the league felt concerned, that is why we were asked to come down and show our condolence.
“We, the Muslims have come to register our condolence. And we are here to assure you that the Muslims in Ogun state are very peaceful, we are very friendly with Christians. We pray that such a thing will never happen again,” he added.
The CAN chairman thanked the delegation, describing their visit as reassuring and noting that Christians do not see Muslims as killers.
He said, “It is not very easy for us here to fight. Those who did it are neither Muslims nor Christians. They are satanic.
“They are our enemies. They are not Muslims. Such things that are happening in the north cannot happen here because we are a family. You hardly see any family without the two religions, but it is unfortunate that such a thing happened. The attack came from our arch enemies.
“I am so happy. Let’s say that, this is the first time this kind of thing will happen and I want to commend the leadership of the Islamic religion in Ogun state for this. I pray almighty God bless all of us.
“In my own family, I even have someone that is next to Chief Imam in Ijebu-land before he died, my elder brother, same father, same mother and we were close.
“These attackers are neither Muslims nor Christians. They cannot find a place where people are asked to kill others in the Quran or Bible, it means they are satanic.”
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