The group, under the aegis of the Northern Inter Faith and Religious Organisations, also urged religious institutions to intensify prayers for the success of the troops fighting the Boko Haram sect in the North-East.
Led by Bishop Edward Chanami, the clerics said that the worst days of insurgency was over in the country.
They called on Nigerians, irrespective of their religious affiliation, to be part of the prayer session.
Chanami said: “It is God’s doing that Nigeria has not ended up the way those with evil intentions had plotted.
“When President Muhammadu Buhari was away on medical leave, members and leadership of the Northern Inter Faith and Religious Organisations for Peace prayed and fasted and God answered our prayers.
“You will recall that our prayer points included healing for Mr President, the recovery of the economy, success of the gallant troops fighting Boko Haram terrorists and the progress of the nation among others.
“In appreciation to God, we today acknowledge that President Buhari is not only back but he has been healed. He is back to piloting the affairs of the country and for this we give God thanks.”
They also commended the president for “his foresight and vision to tackle insecurity,” stating that they were “strongly behind him and his government in the quest to rebuild Nigeria and unite citizens across ethnic and religious divides.
“We are grateful to God for the progress made by our troops in the fight against Boko Haram,” he said, and commended the “Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, and his fellow service chiefs for their unique and decisive leadership.”
We acknowledge and commend every single gallant person in Operation Lafiya Dole. They are the soldiers of God who have been anointed for greater exploits.
Meanwhile,
TROOPS of Defence Company, 27 Brigade of the Nigerian Army on Operation Lafiya Dole, disclosed on Saturday, that it had rescued six abducted herdsmen from suspected Boko Haram terrorists at Kamuya, Yobe State, killing two of the terrorists.
Major General Sanni Ysman, in a statement, said: “On Friday, 8, September, at about 7:30am, troops of Defence Company, 27 Brigade Nigerian Army, on Operation Lafiya Dole deployed at Kamuya, Yobe State, received report from some herdsmen that some suspected Boko Haram terrorists had abducted 6 persons from their village.
“The troops in conjunction with local vigilante familiar with the area trailed the terrorists up to Mangari village which about 20 kilometres away Kamuya, where they exchanged fire with them, neutralizing two of the terrorists and rescued the abducted persons.
“The troops also recovered 2 AK-47 rifles. The rescued persons have been reunited with their families.”
The army also warned individuals and groups to stop campaign of calumny and unguarded comments against the Armed Forces, particularly the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Air Force.
The disclosed that this has become a worrisome trend of campaign of calumny is observed mostly whenever the military record successes in its operations against the Boko Haram terrorists and other laudable military endeavours such as when the United States Government decided to sell Tucano aircrafts to Nigeria.
The Army spokesman, Brig. Gen Sani Usman in a statement on Saturday said it was surprising that these agents of destruction are not happy with the welcomed development of the sale of weapons and our collective success, adding that the list of their systematic, unrelenting and futile attempts to rubbish either the leadership or ridicule the services through baseless allegations is quite lengthy.
The statement reads :” The Nigerian Army wishes to note with great concern the recent spate of negative, unguarded comments and derogative publications both on mainstream and on online media, denigrating the Armed Forces of Nigeria particularly, the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Air Force by some unidentified, unscrupulous and unpatriotic individuals and groups.
“First there was a letter written by some self-appointed leaders of Islamic Movement of Nigeria on 17th August 2017 to United States of American government exhorting it to rescind its decision to sell Tucano aircraft, weapons and military hardware to Nigeria citing baseless reasons.
“This was followed by another round of cacophony of lies and unfounded allegations through media interviews by some individuals and bloggers and on Facebook and other Social media platforms and followed by concorted statistics by a well-known non-governmental organisation alleging that there was resurgence of Boko Haram terrorists activities even when the facts on the ground speaks otherwise.”
Usman added that the most unfortunate of these campaigns of calumny was a recent publication titled “Nigerians blame the NAF for failures in war against insurgents” by one Isaac Dachen on some online publication, stressing that the aim of these people was to denigrate the leadership of the military, demoralize our troops and create doubts among the public on our ability and capability to deal decisively with security issues and assigned tasks in the name of advocacy and criticisms.
“It is important to state that these vituperatives are ill-conceived and destructive posturings against the successes achieved in counter terrorism and counter insurgency operations in Nigeria and must stop.
“Unfortunately for them the Nigerian military is one of the best and most cohesive in the world. We have been discharging our duties diligently which brought about the desired successes achieved so far. The Services in conjunction with other security agencies have been doing the nation proud, sometimes at the expense of our dear lives. We will remain focused and resolute in serving our country.
“It is imperative to note that the Nigerian Air Force is the backbone of the fight against terrorism and insurgency in Nigeria. It has been identifying and neutralizing Boko Haram terrorists camps, some of its leadership, logistics and armoured fighting vehicles through its air interdictions,” Usman noted.
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