By Uzoh Ugwueze, Enugu

The Southern Nige­ria Christian El­ders’ Forum (SON­CEF) has urged the federal government to disclose the true health condition of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The group said the call became imperative con­sidering that the pres­ident was occupying public office and that even though Nigerians had the duty to pray for him, they equally de­served to know his true health status.

“We, however, call on the federal government to fully disclose the health status of His Ex­cellency Muhammdu Bu­hari, considering that he is occupying an exulted public office,” a commu­niqué issued after SON­CEF’s meeting read in parts.

The statement signed by its Chairman, David Eberechukwu and the Secretary, Felix Ekiye, noted that the Christian elders “are disturbed by the unstable state of the nation as a result of different agitations, threats and quit notices.

“We urge the gover­nors and members of the National Assembly to speak and act boldly to defend and protect the citizens. We note that the redemption of Nige­ria now does not only require mere meetings and simple prayers, it requires concerted ac­tions.

The group also con­demned the purport­ed removal or merging of Christian Religious Knowledge with Na­tional Values and Eth­ics in the curriculum of schools. “We warn that any such surreptitious act could adversely af­fect the unity and stabil­ity of Nigeria”, it said.

The people of Agu Orba and Ogbodu Aba in Udenu local govern­ment of Enugu State have signed a peace pact with Fulani herds­men grazing their cattle in the areas.
The agreement facili­tated by the Chairman of the transition commit­tee of the council, Frank Ugwu, was to address cattle-grazing matters as the farming season reaches its peak.

“We held the meeting to maintain the peace in some areas. It is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war. We peacefully re­solved the matters. We don’t want crisis so that the ongoing development projects in our council will be sustained. I thank the state peace committee for being proactive as well as the communities, the herdsmen and the Hausa community,’’ Ugwu said.
The Chairman of the Enugu State Peace Com­mittee, Fred Eze, ex­plained that the initiative would go a long way in averting conflict in the area. “Part of our resolu­tion is that the herdsmen should obtain permis­sion from communities before they graze their cattle and any destruction of farmlands by the cattle will be paid for while kill­ing of cows without justifi­cation will also be paid for by the person or section involved. This is to ensure equity,’’ Eze said.

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