Lagos — CHRISTIANS, in the North Central zone of the country have called for total freedom in the practice of their religion in any part of the North as provided for in the constitution.

Representative of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, North Central zone, Mr John Achimugu in an interview with Daily Champoion weekend in Kaduna, also harped on the need for the Sharia legal system operating in some states in the Northern part of the country be made law for Muslims rather than a territorial law which infringes on the rights of non Muslims.

Mr Achimugu, a legal practitioner explained that section 38 of the Nigeria constitution gives every citizen the right to freedom of conscience, thought and religion, stressing that in actual practice, the freedom does not exist for Christians in the North. He specifically alleged that there are some states in the North where allocation for plots of land for church building is prohibited as a state policy and that Christians are not given certain privileges. "Christians are not given official burying grounds, Christians cannot go out on the street to preach the gospel and the teaching of Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) in public schools is virtually prohibited in practice in those states", he added.

The CAN zonal chairman expressed optimism in the ability of the conference to discuss such sensitive issues, but said there was no justification for treating Christians in the North as second class citizens when the constitution guarantees freedom of religious practice to all.