Boko Haram insurgents beheaded a Christian leader in their captivity on Monday, according to Ahmad Salkida, a Nigerian journalist closely covering the crisis in Nigeria and across the Lake Chad region.
But the insurgents didn’t just behead the chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria without making demands and counter offers between the various government agencies involved in the negotiations for the release of the Reverend. It was revealed that Boko Haram had beheaded Adimi after rejecting a N50 million ransom offer because it fell far lower than their demand.
Before his demise, Reverend Lawan Andimi along with a soldier were were killed by the the terrorists at the same time. The reverend was chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN. He was a local leader of CAN in the Michika Local Government Area in Adamawa State.
Local media reports said the reverend belong to the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN. He was a local leader of CAN in the Michika Local Government Area in northeastern Adamawa State.
Adamawa State CAN chairman, Stephen Mamza, deplored the circumstances leading to the murder, he said the insurgents had asked for £2 million but they had been able to raise only 50 million naira which was flatly rejected.
The insurgents had told the deceased’s wife that they will execute him last Saturday but waited till Monday to undertake the act. Mamza spoke about how another clergyman was killed on Monday.
“It is now clear that Christians are not protected by the government. We don’t feel like we have a government,” he is quoted to have said. The State governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, also condemned the incident as has Amnesty International’s local branch.
On the subject of attacks on Christians, the CAN leader echoes a sentiment that is gaining currency but has routinely been rejected as untrue. Boko Haram violence does not discriminate be it age, sex, religion or social standing.
The CAN leadership in the state confirmed the execution adding that negotiations for ransom payments were well underway.
Meanwhile, The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Adamawa State has declared a three-day fasting and prayer session from Monday over what it termed rampant killing of Christians in the state.
The exercise was announced just as Governor Ahmadu Fintiri awarded scholarship for children of CAN chairman in Michika local government area, Rev. Lawani Andimi.
Making the declaration for the three-day fasting and prayer, the Adamawa State CAN chairman, Bishop Stephen Mamza, said the Christian community needs to fast and pray “in view of the glaring failure” of the Federal Government to protect lives of Christians in Adamawa and the rest of Nigeria.
Two prominent Christian leaders, as well as a journalist, were killed around Adamawa State within one week recently, the most recent being the beheading of Andimi on Tuesday.
Also making what is viewed as a significant move on Thursday, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri paid a condolence visit to the family of late Lawan Andimi in Michika and pledged support to the bereaved.
The governor said the state government will sponsor the education of the children and provide other necessary palliative measures to the family.
One case that stands out in their abductions is of Leah Sharibu, a sole Christian abductee, in the 2018 Dapchi Girls swoop. Whiles all her colleagues were released, Leah was held because she reportedly refused to disavow her Christian faith. See below an easier video of the Reverend pleading with the governor to negotiate his release.
