THE Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association (ACOMORAN), an umbrella body of all commercial motorcycle riders in Kaduna, on Monday, declared that over 100 of its members died during the bomb explosion in Kaduna on Sunday.

 The Secretary General of ACOMORAN in the state, Nasir Mamman, said in an interview  that they were in mourning mood as over 100 of their members died in the explosion at a local breakfast joint near the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna.

He, therefore, urged   the government to be proactive in matters of security and announced that an emergency meeting of all the officials of the association in the state was on to get further details about the dead.

According to him, speculations that their members were involved in most of the crime in the state were not true.

“Most of the criminal elements, especially the bombers, operate in exotic cars. The government should look into the proposal we submitted to it. It is aimed at sanitising the union. Most of those commercial cyclists who engage in crime are not our members.

“[Sunday] was  a very dark day. I said dark day for us because we lost our members and other innocent Nigerians. It is indeed very unfortunate. We prayed that God will give their families the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

“We urge the government to ensure the security of life and property  of citizens. We are not blaming anybody in particular. We are calling on the state government, especially the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), who is one of our patrons, to look into the proposal the association sent to the government aimed at sanitising the way and manner our members behave.

“We have submitted this proposal to sanitise the union. Part of the proposal is the need for screening anybody before becoming our member. We don’t just want anybody to come into the trade just like that. If the government had worked with our proposal, by now we would have told you authoritatively the number of those that are our members that died in yesterday’s [Sunday’s] unfortunate incident, but now we can’t.

“However, we have summoned an emergency meeting of all our chairmen across the five zones we have in the state and they are here  already. On the average, our people are over 100 that lost their lives. We want to authenticate our membership. So we appeal to the state government to really do something about our proposal to sanitise the trade.”

Meanwhile, Christians in Kaduna State have expressed worry that they no longer enjoy the freedom to worship in the state capital as unknown militants are always ready to unleash terror and cause death in  their fold.

Speaking at a press conference in Kaduna on Monday, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the state, Reverend Samuel Kujiyat, specifically pointed fingers at the Boko Haram sect for heating up the polity and by extension, making Kaduna  and other states in the North to be under siege.

He also accused some Christian elders in the region of attempts to cause division in the religious body and conniving with the national leadership of CAN to frustrate him out of office.

He, therefore, said his office would no longer fold its arms and watch an “illegal body” known as the Northern CAN become a nuisance and threat to their corporate existence, adding that they had since concluded arrangement to stop them from operating from the CAN premises.

According to him, the constitution of CAN did not have any provision for northern or southern states CAN, pointing out that it was illegal to continue to harbour northern states CAN on the premises.

He, however, said forgiveness, reconciliation and peace were essential for the building up of mutual trust, respect, unity, harmony, and peaceful co-existence not only in Kaduna, but in Nigeria.

Commenting on the call for a Sovereign National Conference (SNC), the chairman advised that what the nation needed now in preparation for the SNC was the setting up of a truth and reconciliation committee.

Kijiyat recalled how his administration suffered series of intrigues and attempt to impeach him after he was duly elected to lead the Christian body in state, saying that his ability to lead this far was just the will of God in action, because his adversaries left no stone unturned to convince the incumbent president of CAN to replace him with someone they liked.

Reacting, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of CAN in the northern states, Sunday Oibe, said CAN in the North could not be an illegal body, because it had been in existence since 1964.

“The allegation is laughable; it is also laughable for a son to declare his father and mother illegal. Kaduna State CAN is a son to Northern CAN. Northern CAN is not an illegal body, we have the certificates, and it is a constitutional body. Elected officers in the 19 northern states came together to have this forum. So you cannot declare them illegal,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Arewa Youth Forum (AYF), in Kaduna, on Monday, said life is precious and there is no any justification for any individual or group to kill innocent souls as was done in Kaduna on Sunday.

It called on the Federal Government and all aggrieved persons to return to dialogue and end the crisis rocking the North.

President of the AYF, Gambo Ibrahim Gujungu, in Kaduna, said unless the spate of bombings in the region was stopped, the enabling environment necessary for growth and development would continue to elude the region, giving way to massive poverty and lack of investment.

Similarly, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), in a statement from its national publicity secretary, Anthony Sani, said the news of bomb explosions in Kaduna suggested some people were determined to undermine the needed peaceful coexistence and national security.

ACF condemned the bomb explosions and condoled with those who lost lives and properties, as well as prayed for the repose of the souls of those who died.

Also, the chairman of the Youth Wing of CAN, Diji Haruna, confirmed that more than 70 per cent victims of the Sunday car bomb explosion in Kaduna were non-Christians.

Speaking while hosting Muslim youths at a refreshment to celebrate Easter Monday in Kaduna, the CAN youth chairman called on Nigerians to inculcate the spirit of forgiveness.

In his remarks, the leader of the JNI Youths, Muhammad Shuaibu, while expressing gratitude to their Christian brothers for hosting them at Easter, called on international media organisations to desist from reports that were capable of inciting and frustrating efforts in returning lasting security and  peaceful co-existence between the two major religions.

In another development, following the Easter Sunday bomb explosion in Kaduna, the Canadian government has called for an end to what it called hateful and divisive attitudes in the country.

It also condemned the situation where Nigerian Christians were being denied their fundamental human rights to practise their beliefs without threat to their safety.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, John Baird, made these known in a reaction to the attack which killed over 30 people.

In a statement obtained by the Nigerian Tribune on Monday, Baird described the attacks as cowardly, adding that “our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by these cowardly acts.”

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