Atleast 50 pastors have called on the governor of Borno, Babagana Zulum to rebuild a church that was demolished in Maiduguri, the state capital.
Recall that an operative of Borno civilian task force allegedly killed a protester during the demolition of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa Nigeria (EYN) church in Moduganari area of Maiduguri.
The operative is attached to the Borno Geographic Information Service (BOGIS) that was on a demolition exercise at the church.
Eventhough the governor had ordered an immediate investigation into the incident, the pastor in charge of the church, Shawulu Ndahi said the state government must assist the family of the deceased.
“Yesterday morning at about 11am, we received a distress call that some officials of BOGIS in company of some CJTF and graders came and demolished our church with all facilities destroyed,” he said.
“In the process, some of our aggrieved members started hurling stones at the officials of BOGIS, before some CJTF members opened fire after seizing their communication gadgets, which led to the killing of Mr. Ezekiel Bitrus. May his gentle soul rest in peace.
“In view of these unwholesome conduct, we are hereby displaying all our certificate of occupancy and other relevant documents used in acquiring this land which are legal documents.
“Therefore, as a church which believes in peace and unity, we have some immediate demands from Governor Zulum to; immediately reconstruct our demolished church and other facilities including our pure water factory.
“Although there is nothing worth on earth that can compensate life, we requested the state government to immediately assist the families of the deceased and those who sustained gunshot wounds currently receiving treatment at a State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri.
“We called on the state government to immediately remove engineer Adam Bababe from heading BOGIS which is an agency of government tasked with the responsibility of land maintenance.”
He added that the church also wants the state government to lift the ban on the teaching of Christian Religious Knowledge in their primary and secondary schools.