?Tackles Sheikh Gumi, says ?We are ready to open graves for inspection?

A Plateau State-based Christian cleric, Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo, has challenged Kaduna Islamic scholar, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, to provide evidence for his allegation that Christians in the Middle Belt are staging fake mass killings. The cleric warned that failure to do so would result in legal action.

Sheikh Gumi, in a viral Facebook post on Wednesday, claimed he had been informed that some Christian groups were burying empty coffins to create the impression of mass burials and circulating videos to push a genocide narrative.

In the post, Gumi wrote: ?A doctor wrote to me: ?Do you know that some Middle Belt Christian groups are now staging fake mass killings? They are burying empty coffins and recording the process as if real victims were killed, just to push the narrative of a Christian genocide. This is desperation at its peak. A disgrace. Manipulating information just to provoke hatred and international sympathy? I hope it?s not true!??

Reacting, Reverend Dachomo described the claim as ?inhuman? and invited Sheikh Gumi to visit any of the mass grave sites in Plateau State to verify his assertion.

?Let him come; we will tell our youths to dig the ground and remove those coffins to see whether they are empty or not. Let him come practically. We will assemble security personnel, including the GOC, to witness it,? he said.

The cleric warned that failure by Sheikh Gumi to prove his allegation would attract legal action.

?If he doesn?t come, we shall sue him for disparaging and lying against us. I can assure you that we will prepare lawyers to sue him for damages done to us and for portraying us in a very bad light. We are waiting for him; our youths are ready to dig those graves for the whole world to see whether we are faking mass burials,? he added.

Dachomo further alleged that Gumi?s comments mirrored the rhetoric of terrorists in Nigeria.

?His language reflects that of terrorists; that is the language terrorists use in Nigeria. If they kill, they claim they did not kill. If he cannot prove these allegations, he should prepare to meet us in court,? he said.

?I feel like committing suicide; I am tired of conducting mass burials?

Meanwhile, Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo has cried out over the incessant killings in his community, saying he is exhausted from conducting mass burials for victims of terrorist attacks.

The cleric said the scale of violence offers clear evidence supporting United States President, Donald Trump?s claim of genocide against Christians in Nigeria.

Speaking with Saturday Tribune, Reverend Dachomo said the repeated attacks in Barakin-Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State have become so overwhelming that he once contemplated suicide, though his faith forbids it.

?I feel that I should commit suicide so that I will not see this kind of thing. I am tired of conducting mass burials, but there is nothing I can do because my Bible forbids suicide, so I am just waiting for the day the Lord will call me home,? he said.

The cleric described the killings as unprovoked and barbaric, stating that many survivors are consumed by trauma and despair. He alleged that, beyond his immediate community, there were occasions when more than 200 people were killed in a single night.

He added: ?I fully applaud President Trump?s decision to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern. The Nigerian government?s hands are tied. His intervention may minimise the killings, but it will not fully halt them because of some people?s agenda. However, we are prepared to defend ourselves, just as our fathers did.?

Reverend Dachomo further claimed that security agencies have been infiltrated by supposed repentant Boko Haram fighters absorbed into the military, which, according to him, is one reason the country has been unable to effectively curb banditry and insurgency.

?I can?t remember how many times I?ve performed mass burials. Those in my account are in the hundreds, and that is just me. What about other pastors? I?ve lost count of the number of people I?ve given a mass burial. Remember, a senator was killed in this local government,? he lamented.

He also disclosed that he had been threatened by what he described as Fulani terrorists, who allegedly vowed to decapitate him. Despite this, he insisted he would not be intimidated.

?I am under attack. I have left everything in God?s hands; no one can defend me unless God does. If God did not protect me, no one could. Otherwise, I would have been out of the country since. Several countries have offered me asylum. But how can I abandon my sheep? The shepherd must give his life for the sheep. If I take the asylum, I will be in prison; I will never have peace. I want to continue to be identified with my people,? he said.

Reverend Dachomo criticised fellow clergymen who, according to him, have chosen silence despite the persecution of their members.

?The other clergy refused to join me; they are simply fulfilling the Bible. They are the light of the world but under the table. Christians are quiet today because they have lost their saltiness. The government is marching on them, and the environment is marching on them,? he said.

The cleric also urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to be vigilant, alleging that a cabal within the system is undermining his administration.

?Mr. President should be careful with the cabal around him. Inside the President, there is a good part of him that wants to save us, but other agendas have watered down whatever he may want to do. Because of the votes in the North, they manipulate it to their advantage. In the Villa, there is political genocide as well,? he warned. (Saturday Tribune, but headline rejigged)

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