{"id":65231,"date":"2025-05-03T17:15:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-03T17:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=65231"},"modified":"2025-05-03T17:15:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T17:15:25","slug":"can-rallies-nigerians-backs-peace-talks-in-middle-belt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/05\/03\/can-rallies-nigerians-backs-peace-talks-in-middle-belt\/","title":{"rendered":"CAN Rallies Nigerians, Backs Peace Talks in Middle Belt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Ifeoluwa Odunayo<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Christian Association of Nigeria has thrown its full weight behind peace initiatives aimed at ending the violence and bloodshed in the country\u2019s Middle Belt, particularly in Plateau, Benue and Gombe states.<\/p>\n<p>In a press statement issued on May 3, CAN condemned the unrelenting attacks on innocent communities and reaffirmed its commitment to justice, peace and the protection of vulnerable citizens.<\/p>\n<p>The association vowed not to relent in supporting victims and pushing for lasting solutions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe stand by our suffering brothers and sisters. Their safety and dignity remain our top concern,\u201d said Archbishop Daniel Okoh, CAN President.<\/p>\n<p>He stressed that the organisation has not only spoken out against the killings but has also taken direct action, including visits to affected communities, distribution of palliatives and offering of condolences.<\/p>\n<p>CAN urged Nigerians across faiths and backgrounds to support peaceful dialogue and resist actions or rhetoric that could worsen the country\u2019s fragile security situation.<\/p>\n<p>It also cautioned against the spread of misinformation, urging citizens to embrace unity and compassion.<\/p>\n<p>Highlighting the importance of diplomacy, CAN welcomed collaboration with both local and international actors, including the United States and Ambassador Richard Mills.<\/p>\n<p>It also commended platforms like the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council as vital spaces for building sustainable peace.<\/p>\n<p>The statement ended with a call for open, honest engagement, while reaffirming CAN\u2019s unwavering mission to promote unity and national cohesion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ifeoluwa Odunayo The Christian Association of Nigeria has thrown its full weight behind peace initiatives aimed at ending the violence and bloodshed in the country\u2019s Middle Belt, particularly in Plateau, Benue and Gombe states. In a press statement issued on May 3, CAN condemned the unrelenting attacks on innocent communities and reaffirmed its commitment [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":65232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-65231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65233,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65231\/revisions\/65233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}