The Nashirullahi Fathi Society of Nigeria (NASFAT), an Islamic organization has condemned the killing of two Catholic priests and other worshippers in Benue, and other parts of the country by suspected herdsmen. The group in a statement issued by the Publicity Secretary of the society, Alhaji Banji Busari, regretted that at a time when everyone had heaved a sigh of relief about the successes
recorded in ending Boko Haram insurgency, “Nigerians were again jolted with the sad news of the killing of some clergymen and several others, yesterday in Benue State.”
The statement read in part
“Islam as a religion holds lives so sacred to the extent that its Holy Book decreed that whoever kills a soul is like he has killed the entire mankind (Q5:32).
“While we seek collective efforts of all and sundry to ensure that peace reigns supreme in all parts of our dear country, caution should however be exercised not to ascribe religious colouration into this senseless killing.
“Anyone who breaks law and order should be dealt with within the ambits of the law, regardless of his race, tribe or religion. Moreover, the perpetrators have never come out to say they are fighting religious war, so also has no intelligence report points in that direction. ‘A criminal is a criminal’”.
