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The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Rev Dr Samson Olasupo Ayokunle has declared Good Friday March 30, 2018 as a national day of prayer for the release of Leah Sharibu, the only Dapchi girl still in the captivity of Boko Haram.
He said all churches in the country should pray for Sharibu’s freedom.
Leah was abducted alongside other now-freed girls from their school in Dapchi on February 19. Reports said the girl was not freed by the terrorists because she refused to denounce Christianity to embrace Islam.
The CAN President, in a statement issued on Wednesday by his special assistant, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, said prayers for Leah become necessary since Christians are in a “Passion Week’ when, according to him, Jesus, out of passion, willingly submitted himself to be nailed to the cross to pay for the sins of the world, once and for all.
The CAN president stated that “the Passion Week represented a period when Jesus Christ truly revealed His passion for mankind through the sufferings He went on their behalf,” adding that Christians should emulate Jesus and what he stood for in Passion Week.
He said: “We should be passionate in our worship of Jesus and in our proclamation of His Gospel! As He suffered for us, so should we be willing to suffer for the cause of following Him and proclaiming the message of His death and resurrection.
“It is against this background that the leadership of CAN is calling on every Christian nation-wide to stand in the gap for that innocent girl, Leah Sharibu, at 12 noon on Good Friday, asking God to send His Angels to deliver her from the captivity as He did for Apostle Peter who was jailed unjustly.
“CAN is also reminding the Federal Government and the security agencies of the need to free Leah and other captives from the captivity of the Boko Haram terrorists. It is high time our security operatives lived up to the expectations of the people. They should stop the spate of abductions of innocent citizens by a terrorist as well as killings by Fulani herdsmen across the country while mounting adequate security for citizens of the country”.