El Rufai blames conflicts on exploitation of religious differences

• Restates Vow To Punish Instigators

Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir Ahmad El Rufai, has traced perennial conflicts in the state to exploitation of religious differences, stressing that his government will not spare those who instigated the recent bloody crisis that led to massive loss of lives.

The governor spoke at the special graduation ceremony of Kaduna Center for Christian-Muslim Relations. His deputy, Mr. Barnabas Bala Yusuf Bantex, also used the occasion to enjoin all the religious leaders present to pray for him for the perceived pressure from his kinsmen in Southern Kaduna over the violence that erupted there.

Dignitaries at the ceremony were the Catholic Arch-Bishop of the Abuja Diocese, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, Secretary General of the Global Anglican Communion, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, Sheikh Ahmed Abubakar Gumi, Former Secretary General of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN),
Dr. Yusuf Salifu and a host of others.

The Kaduna governor recalled how the state has in the last three decades suffered from violent conflicts, which he described as an unpleasant legacy, adding: “We are determined that accord and conciliation must replace strife.”

He said there is “no reason why all our people and communities cannot be united and supportive of each other even as they resolve differences, through exclusively peaceful and lawful means.”

In their remarks, Onaiyekan, Idowu-Fearon and Sheikh Gumi urged both Christians and Muslims to live together in harmony and peace in order to allow growth and development agenda of the government.