The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the North Central and North East Zones of the country have blamed slow response of governors and security agents to religious riots in their regions for the high toll in deaths and destruction of properties.

According to them, quick responses in Adamawa and Kaduna States by their governors have so far prevented the repeat of the mayhems witnessed in other states where their governors either acquiesce or pay blind eye to the riots.

Speaking to newsmen yesterday in Jos after a joint meeting of the zones, Reverend Yakubu Pam, the North Central CAN Chairman and his North East Counterpart, Dean Paul Farouk regretted that while they as leaders of CAN stop their members from retaliatory act or from going into the offensive, the same has not happened of other religions that attack Christians.

They said the much their members could do was to defend themselves and their families when attacked and implored leaders of other religions to put their members in check and ensure that they do not resort to wasting of lives at the slightest excuse.

They also carpeted the Federal Government for only making moves to ensure peace when there are crises while neglecting build-ups when they could be nipped in the bud, adding that even as at the moment, there were fears in Yobe State that Christians may be attacked any moment.

In their joint communiqué issued at the end of their marathon meeting, they called for the setting up of an "Inter-faith Committee" comprising of Muslims and Christians where they would work together under a common platform for the maintenance of peace and peaceful co-existence.

They called on the Federal Government to constitute a panel of inquiry into the killings in Borno, Bauchi, Gombe and other places in the north with a view to establishing the immediate and remote causes as well as punish those responsible.

CAN in the two regions would want adequate and immediate compensation paid to those whose wards were killed and their means of livelihood destroyed, an action they said would remove the second class citizen feelings by Christians.

They further called on the Ministry of Education to intervene in Yobe state where they alleged that anti-Christian policies in the educational system was robbing youths of the opportunity of optimizing their academic pursuits, adding that the Federal Ministry of Education should wade into it.

On the third term issue, they said they did not have a different view from the CAN National body which submitted memoranda to the Constitution Review Committee stating that they wanted the retention of the status quo in the 1999 Constitution which specifies a two term of four years each.