Anglican,Methodist Church Warns El Rufai

Condemnations have continued to trail the tweet and retweet by a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, on Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene.

In separate interviews, the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and Methodist Church advised that el-Rufai should be rebuked seriously.

The religious leaders warned that the remark could set the country on fire.

Despite his earlier apology, el-Rufai had retweeted: To those who see clearly, whose minds are not clouded by sheer religiosity, there is nothing insulting about the tweet.”

The General Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Dr. Musa Asake, also said the former minister should be brought “to justice on account of his incitement and insult against the Christian faith.”

“With this retweet, CAN believes that El-Rufai is set on a war path with the millions of Christians in Nigeria. We must state that unlike others, Christians do not shed blood, take life, kill or maim others at the slightest provocation,” he said.

Similarly, the Prelate of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, urged leaders of Islamic organisations in the country including the Sultan of Sokoto, to “call el-Rufai to order before he oversteps his bounds.”

Okoh said the Muslim community must prevail on el-Rufai to desist from making derogatory remarks about Christianity to avoid retaliatory responses from Christians.

He said if the Muslim community didn’t want anything derogatory to be said about them, then their members should not make such comments about other people’s faith.

Also, the Prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Makinde, said el-Rufai needed prayers.  “Father, forgive him for he knows not what he is doing,” he said.

He added that Christians would not judge el-Rufai for insulting their sensibilities