Musa Asake, General Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) says President Muhammadu Buhari’s singular interest is how to win a second term in 2019 and continue with his “reign of terror”.

Asake said this during a press conference in Abuja on Friday, adding that Buhari seemed not to care about how many innocent citizens that would become “sacrificial lambs” so long his ambition is realised.

He said Buhari’s administration has taken Nigeria back to the dark days of bloodshed and if the crisis was not tackled immediately, may throw the country into a bigger crisis.

“War seems to be looming in Nigeria while the aggressors are no other than misguided individuals who had been armed to provoke different communities into needless battles,” Asake said.

“Yet, President Buhari, who was popularly elected in 2015, has not seen the need and urgency to issue a presidential order on the need to halt the killings and with stern instruction to heads of security operatives to bring perpetrators to book.

“The Dark Age that has come with the Administration of President Buhari in Nigeria is giving the Christians in this country a huge concern.

“All the same, Mr. President has his own interests, a key of which is to seek re-election to remain in power beyond 2019 and continue with the reign of terror in Nigeria. It does not matter how many Nigerians will end up as a sacrificial lamb on that single ambition.”

Asake described the killings by suspected herdsmen across the country as “legalised murder” and is unacceptable.

This latest criticism from CAN follows a similar move by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). The Catholic Bishops wants Buhari to resign for failure to protect the lives and property of Nigerians against the killer herdsmen.

“Since the president, who appointed the heads of the nation’s security agencies, has refused to caution them even in the face of the chaos and barbarity into which our country has been plunged, we are left with no choice but to conclude that they are acting a script that he approves of,” the CBCN statement read.

“If the President cannot keep our country safe, then he automatically loses the trust of the citizens.

“Whether this failure is due to inability to perform or lack of political will, it is time for him to choose the part of honour and consider stepping aside to save the nation from total collapse.”