by Oghenekevwe Laba.
A non-denominational christian organisation known as Eastern Christain Summit was inaugurated recently in Lagos.
Addressing a gathering of no fewer than 500 worshippers, the Chairperson, Mrs. Margret Elioku, explained that the summit was to articulate the sufferings of Christians of South East all over the Country and find ways to provide solutions to them.
She said despite the fact that Nigeria is a secular State, Northerners have adopted the Sharia system in total disregard to the secular system to make christians in the North to suffer untold hardship.
Apart from the intimidation the Eastern Christians recieve in the North, the Chairperson said even in the South West, where the Easterners are predominantly christains, they were also molested.
She described Eastern Christains as endangered specie because their lives and property were not safe in any part of the country.
In her words, "The christian of South East in Nigeria are an endergered specie. Their market and goods are burnt from time to time in different parts of Nigeria. No investigations are conducted and no compensations are paid for these ungodly acts."
The Chairperson compared the Easterners to the Jews who before 1948, where killed and molested all over the world because they were not organised. She similarly called on Christains from the South East to brace up to the challenges of the time, seek for equity and justice as to protect the interest of the christain religion. Delivering a lecture at the occasion entitled "Spiritual Emancipation," Bishop I. O. Obioha, Rector of GMF University Okota, Lagos, described religious worship as your wllingness to submit yourself to God. He described emancipation as freedom from legal, economical, social and justice restriction. The man of God complained that Nigeria is endowed with natural resources and enterprising people but lack able and sincere leaders to steer the coutry's economy on the right path. He similarly called on Christians to be steadfast in the course of practicing their religion and defend any attack on them in the name of Sharia. "If the Government cannot stand up to their responsility, by protecting the lives and property of Eastern Christains, we shall fight back any attack on us under the disguise of Sharia," he warned. Contributing to the discussion, Dr. F. Anaba described easterners as rejected stones that would soon turn out the pillar of the house. He reiterated that The Pentecostal church originated from Umuahia, Abia State, where it moved to Abeokuta and then Ibadan stating that, the religious mantle, which was lost as a result of ignorance, was already coming back to the East. This was based on his argument that Igbo have control over majority of the Pentecostal churches in Nigeria, stressing that God was about bringing the Ibo man to where they formerly belonged.