CAN said it was not asking the police or the security agencies not to do their constitutional duties but urged officials to be more circumspect in carrying out their duties.
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•Accusation baseless, PDP, Afenifere, ACF, PANDEF, CAN fire back
Deji Elumoye, Chuks Okocha, Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and John Shiklam in Kaduna
The presidency yesterday accused some religious and political leaders of plotting to forcibly remove President Muhammadu Buhari from office, warning that it would thwart the moves and ruffle some unruly feathers in the process.
The presidency, however, came under fire as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere; the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), in separate reactions dismissed the allegation.
The main opposition party described the allegation as a resort to blackmail in the face of the failure of the Buhari administration.
By Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and John Shiklam in Kaduna
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), yesterday lashed out at an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, over inciting comments on the fight against banditry, depicting Christian soldiers as the ones killing bandits.
“In the military, there are Christians and Muslims; the Christians in the military are the ones killing you (bandits) to cause problems,” Gumi was heard saying in a video of his address to bandits in one of the camps he visited.
He had also, on a live TV programme, said bandits were not interested in killing people and that the “few” they killed were “accidental.”