The Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace has demanded the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators of killings in the country.
It said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has run out of excuses, adding that no further explanation was tenable for the ongoing bloodshed in the country.
This was contained in the communiqué at the end of the IDFP 3rd Annual General Assembly and Peace Conference, with the theme: “Inter-religious Dialogue: Strengthening the Culture of Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation.”
The forum admonished the Federal Government to take necessary measures to halt the insecurity in the country.
The communiqué jointly signed by the co-chairmen of the IDFP, Alhaji Ishaq Sanni and Bishop Sunday Onuaha and other leaders of the forum, was presented to journalists in Abuja on Friday.
It read, “Government must arrest and prosecute those responsible for the killings in Nigeria if there is still any leadership in this country. The government has exhausted her windows of excuses.
“As religious leaders, we may sound mild and conciliatory, it is necessary to sound a note of warning to the leaders of the nation. Things are not well with the nation. The government should avoid anything that will lead to anarchy in the nation.”
The group also recommended that the National Board for Technical Education and National Universities Commission should offer courses that promote peace and religious tolerance.
It asked the federal and state governments to introduce interfaith desk offices in ministries.
The 3rd general assembly of the forum was attended by over 150 inter-religious leaders and was formally declared open by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, represented by the Chaplain of the State House Chapel, Pastor Seyi Malomo.
The event was also attended by the President, Christian Association of Nigeria, Dr Samson Ayokunle, Sultan of Sokoto and President, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, Emeritus Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Dr Mathew Kukah, Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, and the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Archdiocese, Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, among others.
