Succour for victims of Plateau attack as church donates N10m worth of food items
SUCCOUR may have come for victims of a recent attack in Plateau State, following the donation of food items, clothes, mattresses, blankets and other household items by The Harvesters International Christian Centre ( HICC). Recall that gunmen stormed two local councils of the state in December, killing over 200 persons and burning down houses.
On why the church was making the donation, when the government should have borne the responsibility, the senior pastor, Bolaji Idowu, said the church also has a responsibility to the society. According to him, the church has no intention to take over the government’s responsibility but is only playing a supportive role.
“In the body of Christ, we have made promises to provide support when our brothers and sisters need them. Whatever we give, as a church, might seem huge to an outsider. But it is really small when compared to how much each person, directly and indirectly affected by this crisis, has lost.
“We will use any way we can to provide them comfort and restore what they have lost in this avoidable and senseless tragedy,” he said.
Bolaji stressed that the primary purpose of the church is to stand as a monument of goodness in the world.
“Every opportunity where we can sow goodness into the world is an opportunity to step into our purpose. Our goal is to be a silver lining, a sign of hope and goodwill in this unfortunate situation,” he said.
On the next step after the donation, Bolaji said: “We are going to Plateau State to meet some of the families affected by the crisis. It is our way of reminding them that they have not been abandoned, and we hope our visit will remind others about how urgent the needs of the people of Plateau are, and how bad the situation on ground is.
“The main thing the people need is to be reassured, through decisive action, that a tragedy like this will never happen again. They need justice for the crimes committed against them, and measures put in place to ensure Christians no longer face persecution at the hands of religious extremists.