I tried as much as possible not to comment on or discuss this issue anytime it comes across my way because I am not only involved but the subject is also emotive. However, the more I tried, the more it keeps occurring in my thought flows. The February 18, 2006 sectarian riot, now designated the Black Saturday in Borno, has refused to go for its sad memories of destruction, barbarism and man inhumanity to man.
In the holocaust that followed, over 50 churches were set ablaze, several souls lost in brutality, private and public buildings, commercial houses, shops and restaurants razed within a matter of hours.
It was a grand conspiracy, carefully planned and meticulously executed. The action was spontaneous and exact on targets with Christians being the ones mostly affected. The perpetrators of this dastardly act held the innocent Christians victims in response to a cartoon drawn by a Danish man said to have blasphemed about Prophet Mohammed.
This day of heinous crime was brought back once more to the memories of people by Bishop Naga Williams Mohammed, the current Chairman of Borno state Chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria in a press interview penultimate Saturday in Maiduguri.
In the interview, titled, “Boko Haram: What Christians faced under Sheriff, Shettima,” Bishop Naga went down memory lane on the relations between the Christian community in Borno and subsequent administrations.
According to him, “If you go back to fairly recent history, our first major problem was in February, 2006, when a Danish man whom I heard was not even a Christian, drew a caricature of Prophet Mohammed. Unfortunately, there was a protest here in Maiduguri and Christians received the repercussions. A total of 56 churches were destroyed.
only N150, 000 was given to each pastor whose entire church was destroyed. What is this supposed to mean? Until justice is done, the memory of that Black Saturday of February 18, 2006, in Maiduguri, will not go away
What struck most is that there was no compensation from the then government.”
Bishop Naga pointed out that in spite of the promises made by the then Governor in person of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, he later reneged. He further stated that though he was a member of the Administrative Committee set up by governor Sheriff, only N150, 000 was given to each pastor whose entire church was destroyed.
Bishop Naga, however, pointed out that the administration of Governor Kashim Shettima has been of tremendous assistance to the state CAN as well the generality of Christians since the Boko Haram saga began.
He explained that so far, the sum of N205 million has been given to a committee set up by the state government to rebuild some of the churches burnt down by the insurgents. The CAN chairman cited an example of Gwoza Internally Displaced Persons from Gwoza in Maiduguri camp, who were given N20 million while the governor has directed that the Borno State Management Agency be supplying food directly to the IDPs under the Christian leadership.
In addition, the governor gave N5 million to bring back some Christians from Borno who fled to Cameroon. Similarly the Governor gave another N5 million naira to bring back to Nigeria some non indigenes, who fled to Cameroon.
As I pointed out earlier, I tried to refrain from commenting on this subject since I was a victim and morally, one cannot be a judge in his own cause. As a victim, I lost my property made up of 22 rooms and a bungalow of three bedroom, located at Bolori layout.
I will only re-assert the facts of the case, which are not in contention. It is a fact that the Ambassador Ahmed Jidda high powered committee, set up by Sheriff’s administration on the crisis recommended the sum of N1.5 billion to be paid as compensation to the affected victims. It is a fact that Sheriff, as governor pledged to pay but reneged. It is a fact that prominent Nigerians including the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar and the then CAN national Chairman, Cardinal John Onaiyekan intervened but to no avail.
One striking aspect of the interview by Bishop Naga is the revelation that only N150, 000 was given to each pastor whose entire church was destroyed. What is this supposed to mean? Until justice is done, the memory of that Black Saturday of February 18, 2006, in Maiduguri, will not go away
