CAN is alleging herdsmen destroyed 500 churches in Benue

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- Reverend Akpen Leva, Benue state chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria, has said that 500 churches were destroyed in the state as a result of herdsmen invasion

- According to the cleric, missionary schools located within the affected churches were also destroyed

- The reverend also said that most worshipers at the affected churches were also displaced as a result of the crisis

Benue state chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Reverend Akpen Leva, on Tuesday, March 13 disclosed that herdsmen invasion in the state has led to the destruction of over 500 churches in parts of the state.

This disclosure was made in Makurdi by the cleric, who noted that aside churches, missionary schools located within the affected churches, pastoral centres and homes, clinics and rehabilitation homes, were also lost to the crisis, Vanguard reports.

NAIJ.com noted that Reverend Leva stated that most worshipers at the affected churches were also displaced as a result of the crisis, which dates back to 2011.

He said: “The destruction cuts across catholic, pentecostal, NKST, anglican and several other churches located in areas affected by the crisis.

“The level of destruction is actually worrisome and that is the more reason why there is every need for the federal government to consider availing these churches some form of compensation, so that we can rebuild the effected structures and also effect repairs on others.”

The cleric appealed to the federal government to direct the military and sister-security agencies to stop herdsmen from further incursions into Benue communities, adding that the church in the state had been badly affected by the crisis.

He added: “Majority of those affected in the crisis are Christians, which means that the church also carries the burden of contributing its widow’s mite to the upkeep of the close to 170,000 persons displaced in the state as a result of the crisis. The situation in Benue state at the moment is pathetic; the state government has been overwhelmed because of the magnitude of the devastation and the number of the displaced.

“There is certainly no way a state government can cope with the kind of number of IDPs the government is catering for at the moment.”

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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) sent a message to President Muhammadu Buhari, condemning the attack in Benue state by suspected herdsmen.

The religious body charged the president and security chiefs to look into the issue and stop paying lip service.

CAN president, Rev Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, in a statement issued in Abuja by his special assistant, media and communications, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, condemned the attack, claiming the country has witnessed unprecedented attacks in the past two years.

Victims of Herdsmen killing buried in Benue state - on NAIJ.com TV