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 Daily
Independent Online.
* Monday, June 14, 2004.
Beware of politicians, CAN cautions Alli
• Calm returns to Numan
By Onoja Audu
and Sule Lazarus
Special
Correspondents
(Jos and Yola)
Plateau
State Sole Administrator Chris Alli has been advised by the state chapter
of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to distance himself from
politicians if he is to succeed in his job.
CAN Chairman
Yakubu Pam counselled him on Sunday at an interdenominational service for
peace held at the Living Faith Church, Jos.
Prayer for peace
on the Plateau, in the Middle Belt, gells with the situation in Numan,
Adamawa State, in the North East, where calm is gradually returning after
last week’s conflict which claimed several lives.
Pam cautioned
Alli not to listen to selfish politicians who may give him the sort of
advice that will take the state back to square one.
According to him,
suspended Governor Joshua Dariye has agreed that his return to office
should depend on the will of God.
Both Alli and
Dariye were at the prayer session which was attended by thousands of
Christians.
Pam expressed
disappointment in the elders of the state for failing to show up. He said
the present situation on the Plateau would bring revival to it if the
people turn to God.
To him, the state
has produced illustrious sons and daughters who have played crucial roles
in every government in Nigeria since independence which “could be the
reason why some people are envious of the state”.
Alli praised Pam
for organising the prayer session, saying the only way the state can
develop is for the people to accept peace.
People of the
state, he added, should pray for God to give them the spirit of tolerance
to accept every tribe living among them, and urged them to learn from the
Christians of old who survived persecution by the Roman Empire.
Dariye was full
of smiles at the event. He only rendered a Christian song when he was
called to the altar to be prayed for. He sang, "it is well, it is
well with my soul".
In the North
East, peace is gradually oozing back to the ancient city of Numan after a
mayhem that was the first of its kind in the history of the Adamawa
State, which put a question mark on the mutual and peaceful co-existence
of the people.
The violence that
erupted between the Hausas and the Bachamas has, apart from leaving
wanton destruction and bloodshed in its trail, caused the paramount ruler
of the Bachamas kingdom, Freddy Soditi Bongo, his royal seat.
It spread to
Gyawana, Lamurde and threatened peace in Yola - forcing the government to
impose curfew on the state capital.
Socio-economic
activities had started picking up in Numan on Sunday although there was
heavy security presence. However, many shops were still closed and human
and vehicle traffic was still very light with people still counting their
loses.
A trader, Sunday
Emeka, said the entire fortune he made in the last 20 years was burnt in
the conflict. He pledged never to return to Numan after getting his life
back together; he would relocate to the South East instead.
Trouble started
when disagreement between Bachama and Hausa youths at a mosque close to
the Hama Bachama’s palace escalated.
The government
took proactive steps against the crisis when it slammed a dusk to down
curfew on Numan and gave orders to the security agencies to shoot trouble
makers on sight.
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