A Pastor with the Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria in Baissa, headquarters of Kurmi Local Government Area of Taraba State, Rev. Timothy Damisa, has been brutally assassinated.
The clergyman, whose assailants were yet to be identified as at press time, was killed on July 12, 2021.
The Christian Association of Nigeria, which revealed this in a statement on Wednesday, has raised an alarm over the killing.
The Chairman of the association in the state, Jirapye Magaji, said in a statement: “With a heart filled with grief, I stand to address you this moment on the unfortunate brutal killing of the CRC-N regional church council Baissa chairman, Rev. Timothy Damisa on the 12th of July 2021 at his residence in Baissa, the headquarters of Kurmi LGA.
“The dastard assassination of the clergyman is a great shock to the entire denomination because it came at the time that this vibrant pastor was contributing enormously to the spiritual and physical transformation of the church ”
“Accordingly, the church is worried by the new trend where criminals or sponsored assassins have made ministers of the gospel their targets as this has been the third of its kind in recent times within the denomination alone.
“We, therefore, call on government at all levels and the intelligence agencies to swing into action to uncover the syndicates perpetrating these vices and their sponsors in society and bring them to book.
“This will serve as a deterrent to others, as allowing crime to thrive will make perpetrators consider it a lucrative business and others would be attracted to join them.
“We advise the church to continue to pray for God to expose the perpetrators and sponsors of the dastardly act.
“We also urge members to desist from peddling unfounded rumours concerning the incident as that is capable of bringing division in the church.
“The church advises the youth in society to embrace legitimate ventures to earn their living, instead of availing themselves as instruments of satan for destruction, as the consequence will not only be on them but will spill over to their future generations.
“For the deceased, his contributions to the church has been enormous as evident in the legacy he left in Abuja, Jos and lately Baissa, where he served as pastor, RCC chairman.”
Magaji condoled with the immediate family, friends, well-wishers and entire denomination and body of Christ over the unfortunate incident.
He prayed that God would grant the deceased eternal rest.