Easter: Northern CAN Tells Christians to Defend Themselves Against Attacks
By: Abudu Olalekan
The tension is real. You can feel it in the air. After what went down in Jos on Palm Sunday—that brutal attack in Angwan Rukuba that left over 20 people dead—the Christian Association of Nigeria (Northern states) has basically drawn a line in the sand.
“Defend yourselves.”
That’s the message. No sugarcoating it.
The Defence Headquarters says they’ve put troops on alert for Easter. Maj Gen Michael Onoja even came out to assure everyone that security is tightened. We’ve heard this before, right? Assurances. But on the ground, people are scared.
I spoke with Joseph Hayab, the CAN chairman for the 19 northern states and FCT. He’s not mincing words. He told me—and I quote—“These killers are not spirits. They are human beings.”
He’s frustrated. And honestly, who isn’t?
“Unless we start organising ourselves to chase those chasing us, they will torment us for the next 200 years,” Hayab said. He’s talking about how every Easter and Christmas, it’s the same story. Terrorists threaten attacks, and Christians are supposed to just… hide?
“Enough is enough of this rubbish,” he snapped.
When I asked if he was telling people to carry guns, he got cagey. “If we tell everything we know, we help the enemy,” he said. But the gist is clear: don’t be a sitting duck. Don’t let fear stop you from going to church. If you stop living because you’re scared, the terrorists win. It’s psychological warfare, he says, and we shouldn’t fall for it.
To Arm or Not to Arm?
The security guys are split on this, though.
Brigadier General John Sura (retd.)—a former governorship aspirant in Plateau—says self-defence is lawful. “Self-defence allows you to carry a Dane gun if you have a licence,” he told me. He argues that if those villagers in Plateau had something to defend themselves with, they wouldn’t have been slaughtered like animals in their homes.
“The last kick of a horse doesn’t stop it from dying, but you should inflict injury before you die,” he said. He wants state governors to activate local vigilance groups. “Police and military can’t be everywhere,” he added. True that. Intelligence failure is a huge problem here.
But then you have Lieutenant Colonel Abdulwahab Ademola (retd.) on the other side. He’s worried about giving civilians weapons. “It creates more risks,” he argues.
His take? Tech. He thinks communities need early warning systems and simple tech to alert security agencies in real-time. “Train residents to disperse quickly, protect the vulnerable,” he says. “Don’t just gather in large numbers and wait to be hit.”
The PFN Weighs In
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) is calling for a total rethink. David Bakare, the National Secretary, says this resurgence is “deeply troubling.”
He’s asking the hard questions: Is there increased funding for insurgents? Are there political gaps? “It’s not just about sending more troops,” Bakare said. “We need to investigate the root causes.”
He’s right. Sending more troops to Jos is a reaction, not a solution. We need to know why they can still strike right in the city center.
Meanwhile, the IGP, Olatunji Disu, has ordered a massive deployment to Jos. The DIG of Operations, Umar Nadada, has been sent to assess the damage and try to restore calm.
But as Hayab said, until the people organise themselves and stop living in fear, these deployments might just be band-aids on a bullet wound.
Easter is coming. And this year, it feels different. Heavier.
