Nigeria sliding towards Islamic state, says NCEF

• Governor Yari vows penalty for Zamfara rioters

The Nigerian Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) has alleged that the country is inching towards Islamic statehood under President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.

The group described the arrest in Ogun State of Joe Chinakwe for naming his dog ‘Buhari’ as an example of discrimination by government against Christians.

In a statement, yesterday, in Abuja, NCEF chairman, Solomon Asemota, noted that as a secular state, the Constitution in Sections 10, 37 and 38 guarantees the right to private and family life, right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

It said: “One wonders, if the dog had been named Gowon or Jonathan, would there have been any furore about the matter?”

Meanwhile, the Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari, has promised that persons culpable in the riot at Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, Talata Mafara, would face justice.

Speaking with State House correspondents after a meeting with Buhari, yesterday, Yari gave insight into the event, which led to the death of eight persons over alleged blasphemy.

He said no arrests had been made but security agents were working round the clock to unravel the culprits and bring them to book.