Christian leaders in Nigeria undermined efforts to combat the threat of
Boko Haram by failing to engage in dialogue with Muslims, a senior
Anglican church leader has told the BBC.
Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, who is Nigerian, said Christians had feared the country was being "Islamised".
They had believed Muslims leaders were supporting the militants, he said.
Boko Haram had targeted both Muslims and Christians in its bid to impose Islamic law in northern Nigeria.
The
group has killed some 10,000 people since it began its insurgency in
2009 and has also kidnapped hundreds of girls and women.
Last year,
the militants seized a huge area of the north-east, before being beaten
back by a regional coalition, including Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
The
BBC's John McManus says Archbishop Idowu-Fearon, who is the new
secretary-general of the Anglican Communion, has a strong reputation for
promoting dialogue between Christians and Muslims.
But the
archbishop told our correspondent that efforts to maintain unity were
undermined by some fellow Christians who failed to engage wit their
Muslim counterparts.
"We warned the leadership in my country, the
Christian Association of Nigeria: 'Let us listen to the Muslim
leadership, because the leadership is not in support of Boko Haram.'
"'Oh no no no,' they said, 'they are always deceiving us. They are all the same,'" he said.
But the archbishop said attitudes had now changed after so many lives had been killed.
"Now
they are singing a different tune... I tell you more Muslims have been
killed than Christians in the north-east of Nigeria."
line
Perhaps
it is no surprise that Archbishop Idowu-Fearon decided to leave Nigeria
and take up his new role as secretary-general of the Anglican
Communion.
From his own admission, his attempts to promote unity
between Christians and Muslims in the face of Boko Haram's attacks were
not always welcome.
And his opposition to Nigeria's new
anti-homosexuality laws put him at odds with many people of faith,
including most of his own Church hierarchy.
The archbishop
though, is resolute, telling me he would not be dissuaded, even by a
statement from the church of Nigeria which distanced itself from him
when his new appointment was announced.
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