CAN Advises Christians to Defend Themselves after Murder of Female Pastor in Abuja

Asks family to put burial of slain female pastor on hold
Paul Obi in Abuja
Following the brutal murder of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) preacher, Mrs. Eunice Elisha, in Kubwa, a suburb of the Abuja metropolis, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), yesterday charged all Christians in the country to henceforth defend themselves against any form religious-motivated attacks or aggression.

The association bemoaned the rampant cases of killings of Christians, warning that Christians in the country are being provoke to resort to violence to counter further attacks.

Secretary General of CAN, Rev. Musa Asake, in a statement said: “The national leadership and the entire members of CAN have received with rude shock and disbelief the report of yet another religious hatred-motivated gruesome murder of a dedicated 42 year old Christian mother of seven children, Mrs. Eunice Elisha, who on Saturday, July 9, 2016, was brutally killed while doing Christian evangelism.

“Mrs. Eunice Elisha was murdered in Kubwa area of Abuja, FCT, in the early hours of the day. Her neck was slashed and she was also stabbed in the stomach. About a month ago in Kano, Mrs. Bridget Agbaheme, a 74 year old Christian was murdered at Wambai market due to an altercation with a Muslim man who came to the front of her shop to perform ablution. Her offence was that she objected to the Islamic washing rite in front of her shop.

CAN maintained that “the unprovoked attacks on Christians and the authority’s inaction is becoming unbearable and may not be tolerated anymore, inasmuch as we will continue to call on Christians to remain tolerant and law abiding.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday asked the family of late Mrs. Eunice Elisha to put on hold the funeral pending when  the association would clarify certain issues surrounding her gruesome killing.
Pastor Alalade Caleb of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Kubwa, Abuja who spoke on behalf of the family, said this had become imperative given the controversy surrounding her death.

Caleb said: “The position of the church, if not for the awaiting reports from the police and the CAN was to have the burial latest Thursday and the wake keeping tomorrow, which is Wednesday but, we are trying to put everything on hold in the process of that planning and I was part of the planning process.

Meanwhile, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor E. A. Adeboye, yesterday morning, visited the family of the late Mrs. Elisha.

The wife of the Vice President Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo, also a pastor of  RCCG, had also paid a condolence visit to the deceased’s husband and children last weekend.