PROCMURA Holds Christian-Muslim Dialogue Conference in Nigeria
Dear Partners and Friends of PROCMURA,
As you are all aware, in recent times the situation of Christian-Muslim relations in the Northern part of Nigeria has been sour to say the least. The violent confrontations in Jos received international media headlines. The World Council of Churches Living Letters team that visited Jos in April and of which Dr. Mbillah, the General Adviser of PROCMURA was a member showed a very distressful environment literally crying for help.
We understand that the hundreds of people especially women and children who could not run for their lives constituted an overwhelming majority of the casualties. An appeal for proactive measures that would lay a road map towards peace between Christians and Muslims as a means of dealing with other complex issues that cause the conflict was well pronounced. As a result of this appeal, the General Adviser visited the troubled spots a number of times and held discussions with the Nigeria North PROCMURA Area Committee on what needs to be done to contribute towards peace in the Northern and Middle Belt part of Nigeria.
The Area Committee under the able leadership of its Chairman Bishop Josiah Idowu Fearon, contacted ICCO and Kerk in Actie in the Netherlands who willingly provided the financial means for PROCMURA to bring together Christian and Muslim leaders from the North and Middle Belt states of Nigeria to discuss among themselves the root cause of the problems and to come up with a statement of purpose on how to deal with the issues.
The PROCMURA Central Office team led by the General Adviser travelled to Kaduna Nigeria to team up with PROCMURA people on the ground to facilitate the conference. As the report is being prepared, Dr. Mbillah who is away in Canada to help facilitate a conference organised by one of PROCMURA’s Partners, the United Church of Canada, has mandated me to send you a communiqué issued after the conference.
If you seek to know more please do not hesitate to contact us or otherwise wait for the detailed report which is being worked on in Nigeria and in the Central Office.
Our regards to you and your colleagues.
Joy Wandabwa
Programme for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa