The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for the Northern States and Abuja has urged all Christian clerics to terminate participation in the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) until their Muslim counterparts show commitment to tame their followers.

This submission by the umbrella body for Christians spanning the 19 northern states and the FCT, is coming amidst wide condemnation of the brutal murder in Sokoto state of Deborah Samuel a 200-level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education for alleged blasphemy.

In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Chaplain Jechonia Gilbert CAN also call on Christian parents to discourage sending their children to any school in Sokoto State until the Federal and State governments show a willingness to secure the lives of Christians in Sokoto and other States in the north.

CAN notes that Nigeria being a country governed by the rule of law and order, should therefore not allow any act of lawlessness and criminality.

The CAN (19 Northern States and Abuja) calls on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal not to resort to rhetoric but to demonstrate political will and capacity to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice as others may take a queue and turn Nigeria to a country of lawlessness at the slightest provocation.