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Statement by NCEF on Protest letter to the NEC of the CAN

Below is a statement released today 21st May, by the National Christian Elders Forum with respect to the Protest Letter it had issued against the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria.

Church Arise! considers the situation extremely distateful but believes it to be a direct answer to the 21-day fasting and prayers concluded on May 13. We pray the entire story leads to speedy accomplishment and establishment of God's counsel for Nigeria. Amen.

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“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Is. 58: 1

In view of the mixed reactions to the report of misconducts in CAN, the National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) deems it necessary to highlight crucial issues at stake so that emotional outbursts do not becloud facts. It is clear there are visible attempts to utilize emotional manipulations to distort and distract from the real issues at stake.

The NCEF wishes to clarify as follows:

1. Nigerian Christians should understand that JIHAD has been launched in the country with the objective of “eradicating in all its forms and ramifications” Christianity. This Jihad works in two ways: Conventional (Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen) and Stealth (Deception, compromise, inducement etc). Both forms of Jihad are dangerous but the most dangerous one is the stealth jihad which works subtly to undermine the internal fortifications and cohesion of the Church so that the Conventional Jihad can destroy visible structures without much resistance. If CAN has come under the influence of stealth jihad, then the leadership of CAN must be delivered and non-compromising actors must be put in place to represent and defend Nigerian Church.
2. When NCEF sought to convene a meeting of Christian leaders on 10th May, 2018, to harmonize them to form a common front against Jihad, and the current President of CAN, under outright false pretences, cancelled the meeting and instructed that the National Christian Center should be locked so that the meeting would not hold, does that not constitute stealth jihad against the Church?
3. When the current Federal Administration that has manifested so much hostility and partiality towards Christians gives leaders of CAN money and they accept and share it as individual booty, would such leaders possess moral authority to withstand such a hostile government? Does not such financial inducement constitute stealth jihad? If collecting such money was appropriate, why would the President of CAN come out publicly to deny it in a publication on Sunday 20th May, when he was fully aware that this issue was discussed at the meeting of NEC in February 2018 and the individual who “shared” the money admitted collecting and sharing it to CAN leaders. What is the object of the denial by the President of CAN that the money was collected if it was not stealth jihad?
4. When the leadership of CAN is indicted of fraud and there is outright attempt to cover it up in display of espirit d’corps by NEC, does that constitute righteousness in the Church? Can a Christian leadership that is fraudulent and covetous resist financial inducement that comes with stealth jihad?
5. When the CAN President, in an attempt to cover up the fraud, violated the Constitution of CAN by illegally appointing an Auditor (which is the exclusive preserve of NEC) and the Auditor presented a flawed report that covered the fraud, can Christians rely on such leadership to defend them against Jihadists? With such criminal mindset, is Christianity safe in the hands of such individual(s)?
6. When SSS/DSS arrested Laity Trustees of the CAN Trust Fund and NCEF met with the President of CAN to discuss the issue, it was agreed that a letter of protest shall be written by the NCEF and the President of CAN, who also doubles as the Chairman of the Trustees of CAN Trust Fund shall sign the letter. Suddenly, without any notification or explanation, the President of CAN informed NEC on 28th February, 2017 that he would not sign the letter. He delegated the signing to the Legal Adviser of CAN who signed after significant portions of the protest letter have been removed. A lot of questions that arise include: Why did the President of CAN refuse to sign? Who is the President of CAN working for? Who authorized the deletion of significant portions of the document such that a watery and diluted protest was sent to SSS/DSS? Does this not constitute stealth/jihad against the Church? Are we to conclude that the President of CAN is an operative of the Intelligence Services?
   NCEF is aware that it is part of stealth jihad that Islamists do not want CAN to be financially independent to defend Christianity. They do not even want us to have funds to bury our people that they killed or take care of those they have rendered homeless and destitute. In addition, a pauperized CAN would make Church leaders easily susceptible to financial inducements and easy to compromise. Evidences of these compromises abound.
   NCEF noted that in February 2018, the Coordinator of CAN Trust Fund wrote a petition to NEC listing nine acts of deliberate sabotage by this President of CAN, who is also the Chairman of the Trustees. The Coordinator lamented that the performance of the CAN Trust Fund in 2017 was 0.019% as a result of sabotage. All these are stealth Jihad against the Church.
   NCEF is using this medium to call on Nigerian Christians to contribute N500 monthly to CAN Trust Fund to enable the Church break the yoke of financial strangulation on the apex body of Christianity in Nigeria.
7. Why has NEC consistently refused to properly investigate all issues of misconduct in CAN? Is it to be concluded that substantial number of Church leaders are under the influence of stealth jihad through financial inducement? Could this be responsible for the inability of most Christian leaders to speak out against persecution of Christians until lately that the Clergy is now targeted by the Islamists?

NIGERIAN CHRISTIANS, you can no longer claim ignorance of the issues unfolding in Nigeria. The National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) has consistently raised these issues in dialogue with CAN leaders. However, when it was clear that CAN leaders are determined to sweep these issues permanently under the carpet, NCEF issued a protest letter which it circulated far and wide to Christians. Ultimately it got to the media. NCEF wishes to clarify that it did not sponsor the newspaper coverage.

These issues are now in the open for Christians to engage and demand righteousness from leaders of CAN. On its part, NCEF plans to participate in an Emergency Meeting of NEC which has been slated for 1st June, 2018. NCEF had made this request in its petition that NEC should convene an Emergency meeting to consider the issues raised in the petition. These are critical issues that NCEF as members of CAN and stakeholders in the Association has to engage in the interest of coming generations.

CONSTITUTION

NCEF also wishes to draw the attention of Nigerian Christians to deliberate mischief by some CAN Officials that since NCEF is not mentioned in the Constitution of CAN, it has no right to comment on issues in CAN. This is a rather absurd mentality. What would happen if President Buhari should say CAN has no right to make comments on National Issues because CAN is not mentioned in the Constitution of Nigeria? The mentality of some of the current leaders of CAN is pathetic.

NCEF wishes to state that it has no intention to run CAN, control CAN, or impose any candidate on CAN. NCEF remains a subset of CAN and is concerned that CAN should be built into a respectable and formidable institution capable of defending and protecting Christianity in Nigeria.

Fortunately due to the various interventions of NCEF and other Nigerians of goodwill, the spate of killings has reduced and Government is now on the defensive trying to explain that there is no Jihad going on and laboriously seeking to justify the need for grazing field. All along, NCEF has maintained that the search for grazing field does not justify killing of Nigerians. It was Jihad. Christians should however not get carried away by the rebranding attempts of this Government as it could also be political calculation for 2019 Elections.

The NCEF has also noted the unfortunate high spirited attempt to change the narrative in this case and employ emotional manipulations that the dirty linen of the Church is being washed in public. Are those who say this just noticing that the Nigerian Church has been wearing filthy garments for years? All the disunity, rancor, immorality, greed and covetousness that characterized the Church in recent years, are they not filthy garments? Is it not better now that the dirty linen is being washed so that the world will see that the Nigerian Church is finally calling itself to order? “If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged”. 1 Cor. 11: 31

Finally, NCEF wishes to state clearly that our only aspiration is to facilitate a better future for our children and for generations yet unborn. As Christian Elders, we cannot see something and say nothing and do nothing.

Thank you.

National Christian Elders Forum
21st May, 2018

READ/DOWNLOAD FULL PETITION

PS: The full petition of NCEF to NEC can be accessed at  www.csmnigeria.org

Full Text of Netanyahu's speech on Iran's Nuclear Weapon Project (from Times of Israel site)

Prime minister details a vast haul of incriminating evidence that he says was obtained by Israeli intelligence from Iran's own nuclear archive

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a speech on files obtained by Israel he says proves Iran lied about its nuclear program, at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, on April 30, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Full text of a presentation by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran’s nuclear program, in Tel Aviv on April 30, 2018. (Netanyahu, who began by hailing one of the “greatest achievements” of Israeli intelligence in obtaining the material he was showcasing, spoke in English and later delivered a Hebrew summary.)

Good evening.

Tonight, we’re going to show you something that the world has never seen before. Tonight, we are going to reveal new and conclusive proof of the secret nuclear weapons program that Iran has been hiding for years from the international community in its secret atomic archive.

We’re going to show you Iran’s secret nuclear files.

You may well know that Iran’s leaders repeatedly deny ever pursuing nuclear weapons. You can listen to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei: “I stress that the Islamic Republic has never been after nuclear weapons.” You can listen to Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani: “Nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction have no place in Iran’s security and defense doctrine, and contradict our fundamental religious and ethical convictions.” This is repeated by Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif: “We didn’t have any program to develop nuclear weapons. Anyway, we consider nuclear weapons both irrational as well as immoral.”

Well, tonight, I’m here to tell you one thing: Iran lied. Big time.

After signing the nuclear deal in 2015, Iran intensified its efforts to hide its secret nuclear files. In 2017, Iran moved its nuclear weapons files to a highly secret location in Tehran. This is the Shorabad District in southern Tehran. This is where they kept the atomic archives. Right here. Few Iranians knew where it was, very few, and also a few Israelis.

Now, from the outside, this was an innocent looking compound. It looks like a dilapidated warehouse. But from the inside, it contained Iran’s secret atomic archives locked in massive files. Actually, they’re a little bigger than this, okay?

A few weeks ago, in a great intelligence achievement, Israel obtained half a ton of the material inside these vaults. And here’s what we got. Fifty-five thousand pages. Another 55,000 files on 183 CDs.

Everything you’re about to see, is an exact copy of the original Iranian material.

You may want to know where are the originals? Well, I can say they’re now in a very safe place.

Here’s what the files included: incriminating documents, incriminating charts, incriminating presentations, incriminating blueprints, incriminating photos, incriminating videos and more.

We’ve shared this material with the United States, and the United States can vouch for its authenticity. We will also share it with other countries, and we’ll share it with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

So, let me tell you the history of this material.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech on Iran’s nuclear program at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on April 30, 2018. Netanyahu said that he had proof of a ‘secret’ Iranian nuclear weapons programme, as the White House considers whether to pull out of a landmark atomic accord that Israel opposes. (AFP/Jack GUEZ)

We’ve known for years that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons program called Project Amad. We can now prove that Project Amad was a comprehensive program to design, build and test nuclear weapons. We can also prove that Iran is secretly storing Project Amad material to use at a time of its choice to develop nuclear weapons.

Here’s what Project Amad’s explicit goal was: creating nuclear weapons. This is an original Iranian presentation from these files, and here’s the mission statement: Design, produce and test five warheads, each with ten kiloton TNT yield for integration on a missile. You don’t need to read Farso to read 10 kilotons here. TNT. This is the specific goal of Project Amad. That’s like five Hiroshima bombs to be put on ballistic missiles.

This is an original Iranian spreadsheet from the archives of Project Amad. Look at what we have here. Yellowcake production, centrifuge enrichment process, warhead project, simulation project, and test. And indeed, when we analyzed what’s in these archives, we found that Project Amad had the all the five elements, the five key elements, of a nuclear weapons program. I want to take them one by one.

The first element is designing nuclear weapons. This is an original Iranian illustration of a weapon. Again, you don’t have to read Farsi to understand this. This is U235—that’s enriched uranium, right here at the core. That’s the only place where you find in the core enriched uranium. And here’s an Iranian simulation, original Iranian simulation putting all these components together. That’s the first component.

Second component—developing nuclear cores. Here’s a photo showing the casting process and a cast metal core, from the archives. And here’s a secret underground facility the Iranians were building to produce nuclear cores. We have hundreds of documents for each of these components.

Third component—building nuclear implosion systems. This is an original Iranian photo of a measuring device for implosions. And here’s a simulation of a nuclear implosion.

Fourth element—preparing nuclear tests. Here’s a map of five potential locations for a nuclear test in eastern Iran, One, two, three, four, five.

We have many, many more such documents.

And fifth—integrating nuclear weapons on missiles. Here’s a design for a nuclear payload on a Shahab3 missile, from the archive. Here’s the warhead, here’s the bomb. And I don’t have to remind you, I think, that Iran is continually expanding the range of its ballistic missiles, its nuclear-capable missiles. They started with 1,000 kilometers, they’re now up to 2,000, roughly. They can reach Riyadh, Tel Aviv, Moscow, but they’re working on far, far greater ranges. They’re planning much longer range missiles to carry nuclear weapons.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces new details on Iran’s nuclear program, April 30, 2018. (Screenshot)

So these files conclusively prove that Iran is brazenly lying when it says it never had a nuclear weapons program. The files prove that.

But here’s what happened next. Iran was faced with mounting pressure in 2003. You remember that, that was following the Gulf War, so it was forced to shelve Project Amad. But it didn’t shelve its nuclear ambitions. So Iran devised a plan to do two things. First, to preserve the nuclear know-how from Project Amad, and second, to further develop its nuclear weapons related capabilities. That plan came directly from Iran’s top leadership.

There’s another document from the archive. This is following the new directive of Iran’s Minister of Defense, Mr. Shamkhani, today he’s the director of the National Security Council. Following the new directive of Iran’s Minister of Defense, the work would be split into two parts, covert and overt. A key part of the plan was to form new organizations to continue the work.

This is how Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, head of Project Amad, put it. Remember that name, Fakrhizadeh. So here’s his directive, right here. And he says: “The general aim is to announce the closure of Project Amad,” but then he adds, “Special activities”—you know what that is—“Special activities will be carried out under the title of scientific know-how developments.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces new details on Iran’s nuclear program, April 30, 2018. (Screenshot)

And in fact, this is exactly what Iran proceeded to do. It continued this work in a series of organizations over the years, and today, in 2018, this work is carried out by SPND, that’s an organization inside Iran’s Defense Ministry. And you will not be surprised to hear that SPND is led by the same person that led Project Amad, Dr. Fakrhizadeh, and also, not coincidentally, many of SPND’s key personnel worked under Fakrhizadeh on Project Amad.

So this atomic archive clearly shows that Iran planned, at the highest levels, to continue work related to nuclear weapons under different guises and using the same personnel.

I want to give you another example of Iran’s nuclear weapons related activity that continued after Project Amad. You all remember the Fordow Facility? The Fordow Uranium Enrichment Facility. This was a secret underground enrichment facility that the Iranians built under a mountain. You don’t put thousands of centrifuges under a mountain to produce medical isotopes. You put them there for one reason: nuclear weapons, enrichment for nuclear weapons. But the files show that Fordow was designed from the get-go for nuclear weapons as part of Project Amad.

Here’s an original Iranian blueprint of Fordow. And what happened was that Iran continued to build Fordow years, secretly building, years after Project Amad ended. Here’s what it looks like. That’s the entrance. It goes under a mountain. You also will not be surprised that Iran insisted on keeping Fordow.

And amazingly, the nuclear deal enabled it to do it. It enabled it to do it, but this came with a hitch. Iran was required by the nuclear deal, to come clean to the International Atomic Energy Agency about its nuclear program. This was an explicit condition for implementing the nuclear deal. Iran has to come clean. So in December 2015, the IAEA published its final assessment of what it called the military aspects of Iran’s nuclear program. This is the report. This was Iran’s chance to fully come clean to the IAEA. They could tell the truth, they could say, we had this program, this secret program, it’s over, we shelved it, it doesn’t exist, we destroyed the material.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a speech on files obtained by Israel he says proves Iran lied about its nuclear program, at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, on April 30, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Here’s what Iran actually told the IAEA. It said, Iran denied the existence of a coordinated program aimed at the development of a nuclear explosive device, and specifically denied, get this, specifically denied the existence of the Amad plan. The material proves otherwise, that Iran authorized, initiated and funded Project Amad, a coordinated program aimed at the development of a nuclear explosive device.

Here’s another document from the archive. This is the master plan of Project Amad. Iran said to the IAEA, no work has been conducted with multi-point initiation. This is multi-point initiation. You’ve got to forgive me, this jargon, this scientific terminology is something that is necessary to understand the production of nuclear weapons. But here’s what they say, no work has been conducted with MPI technology in hemispherical geometry. But again, the archive shows that this is a complete fabrication. Iran conducted extensive work with MPI technology in hemispherical geometry. There’s an example. Hundreds more documents prove it.

Iran said to the Agency, that it had not conducted metallurgical work specifically designed for a nuclear device. But the files again show that this is a lie. Iran conducted extensive metallurgical work specifically designed for a nuclear device. Here’s an original Iranian photo, plenty more in the archive.

So what I’ve shown you tonight is just a fraction of the total material that we have. But even from this sample, you can draw four main conclusions. First, Iran lied about never having a nuclear weapons program. 100,000 secret files prove that they lied. Second, even after the deal, Iran continued to preserve and expand its nuclear weapons know-how for future use. Why would a terrorist regime hide and meticulously catalogue its secret nuclear files, if not to use them at a later date. Third, Iran lied again in 2015, when it didn’t come clean to the IAEA, as required by the nuclear deal.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is interviewed by The Associated Press, in New York, Tuesday, April 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

And finally, the Iran deal, the nuclear deal, is based on lies. It’s based on Iranian lies and Iranian deception. 100,000 files right here prove that they lied.

So here’s the bottom line. Iran continues to lie. Just last week, Zarif said this: “We never wanted to produce a bomb.” Again: “We never wanted to produce a bomb.”

Yes you did. Yes you do. And the atomic archive proves it.

US President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in the Rose Garden of the White House on April 30, 2018, in Washington, DC. Trump said the current Iranian nuclear deal was ‘unacceptable.’ (AFP/Saul Loeb)

The nuclear deal gives Iran a clear pass to an atomic arsenal. It does so because it gives them the three components that are necessary to produce this arsenal. First, unlimited enrichment in a few years. And they plan to do that. They plan to have several hundred thousand advanced centrifuges with which they can enrich mountains of uranium for that core that I showed you before. For many, many such cores. Second, it completely fails to address Iran’s continued development of ballistic missiles. And third, and this is new, it completely fails to address Iran’s secret nuclear bomb program and its advanced work on weaponization. We just did.

So this is a terrible deal. It should never have been concluded. And in a few days’ time, President Trump will decide, will make a decision on what to do with the nuclear deal. I’m sure he’ll do the right thing. The right thing for the United States, the right thing for Israel and the right thing for the peace of the world.