The Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has accused clerics of instigating crisis in the state.
El-Rufai said the clerics uses their pulpits to preach violence instead of peaceful co-existence and unity.
The Governor stated this on Thursday when he received a delegation of the Church of Nigeria officials led by the Primate, Henry Ndukuba.
The Primate had narrated how he was a victim of religious violence in Kaduna state.
He said his house in Wusasa, a town in the state, was burnt during the religious crisis of 1987.
Ndukuba said the church believes that everyone should be able to live in peace and pursue their desires in line with the law of the land.
“The Church of Nigeria stands for peaceful co-existence and the ability of people to pursue their enterprise wherever they may be — whether north, south, east, west — any part of this country,” the primate said.
“I believe that if the Christians will stand for what they believe and the Muslims will stand for what they believe, and each one does what he should do, in consideration of his brother and sister and neighbour, I believe that we have all that it takes to be a great nation.”
Reacting El-Rufai said, “The primate is aware of the history of violence and religious intolerance in this state,” the governor said.
“Our study of the situation over four decades has shown that the main drivers of this violence are a few clerics that use their platforms, not to preach peaceful co-existence or promote our common humanity.
‘’Rather, they use their platforms and revered positions to divide and incite violence. I was sad to hear from the Primate, that he was a victim in 1987, when his house was burnt down in Wusasa.
“In those days, the Primate will recall, that this sort of violence starts from one part of the state and the spreads all over the state. One credit that this government gets from everyone, including our adversaries, has been our ability to contain these outbreaks to their points of origin.”