Christian Youths on Monday demanded the closure of Nigeria’s borders with Chad, Cameroon and Benin Republic “in view of (Kaduna Governor Nasir) El-Rufai’s confession that the Fulani terrorists killing Christians are foreigners.” They also demanded that the “Kaduna State House of Assembly must impeach El-Rufai immediately for conniving with terrorists to kill Nigerians.”

The demands were contained in a statement in which the Christian Youths strongly condemned “El-Rufai’s unfortunate condemnation of the CAN President statement over the cleansing of Christians further exposes the Governor’s lack of coming to terms with realities for political reasons.”

The statement issued in Abuja said: “We shall no longer tolerate the disrespect for the office and person of the CAN President, Dr. Samson Supo Ayokunle, especially the statements attributed to Kaduna State Governor and other Nigerians. We wish to reiterate the high esteem accorded to the CAN President.

“We then Christian Youths of Nigeria stand firm and support the position of the CAN President, after CAN National Executive Committee meeting with Southern Kaduna Christian community Leaders in Abuja, on Save our soul visit to CAN over the targeted cleansing of Christians.

“The Kaduna Governor Malam Nasir El-Rufai instead of seeking the collaboration of CAN through strategic prayers and consultations to end the senseless killings, had debunked the statement of the CAN President and attributed the killings of Christians in southern Kaduna communities to bandits, claiming, ‘The same Fulanis are killing Fulanis in Zamfara State’.

“The Christian Youths totally disagree with the claims of the Kaduna Governor that the attackers who ‘organised themselves and came back for revenge....in southern Kaduna and Plateau State are from outside Nigeria’ is untrue.

“Whether the Fulani terrorists are from Nigeria or not, we the Christian Youths agree that there is deliberate and calculated cleansing of Christians in Nigeria. Thus, we call on all Christians to resist.

“The initiative to compensate the Fulanis for their lost castles as well as placating them and sponsoring delegates to meet Fulani leaders outside Nigeria amounts to playing to the gallery and snacks off sentiments without recourse to the Christians killed or the plight of their mourning families.

“It is the highest point of insensitivity to use state fund to pay and placate the aggressors/terrorists at the expense of the victims. In view of El-Rufai’s confession that the Fulani terrorists killing Christians are foreigners, we call on the Federal Government to close the Northern Nigerian border between Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Benin Republic without delay. Kaduna State House of Assembly must impeach El-Rufai immediately for conniving with terrorists to kill Nigerians.

“Also, the rate of abduction and robbery are on the increase, thus further confirming the weak or compromised internal security apparatus.

“To say the least, our borders are not only poorhouse and poorly manned, we are aware of the influx of infiltrators and collaborators of terrorists through Nigerian borders. It is evident that alliance over the years have been deliberately allowed into Nigeria to buffers up the population of one religion over the other for obvious reasons.

“In conclusion, we call on the Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, to respect the CAN President and know that Christians have the right to self defence, especially where there is complacency or complicity on the part of security operatives or politicians.”

•Photo shows Nigeria’s border with Benin Republic

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