Following the incessant security threats in the country, the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has condemned the country’s insecurity and disassociated Islam from every act of terrorism plaguing the country.
The Council’s reactions were contained in a press release issued on Wednesday February 5, 2020 at the National Headquarters, National Mosque Complex, Abuja.
NSCIA, under the leadership of its President-General and Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, mni, CFR, expressed a strong displeasure and dissatisfaction over the high level of insecurity confronting the country.
“The Islamic Council is appalled and horrified by the state of insecurity in Nigeria. These days, hardly does a day pass without some heart-rending news about kidnapping, armed robbery, violent attacks on and savage/ritual killings of innocent Nigerians. The level of insecurity in the country has reached an unacceptable crescendo that declaring a state of emergency on it appears not only necessary but also pressing,” the document reads.
The leadership of the Council called on the Federal Government and all its agencies, including the military to use whatever means possible to arrest this descent into anarchy.
The Council added that radical steps must be taken by the President to end the incessant killing in the country.
“The blood of the innocent being shed unjustly and human security being at its lowest ebb. The situation of Nigeria today is desperate and desperate situations require desperate measures in the collective interest of well-meaning Nigerians,” it added.
According to the Council’s President, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, the monster of insecurity has to be tackled actively with the full weight of Nigeria’s security and defence capacity.
“The time to arrest the insecurity in the land is now and we repeat our call to President Muhammad Buhari to combat the current spike in insecurity with candid decisiveness,” he said.
“It is rather discomfiting and heart-rending that some misguided elements in our country have resorted to the dangerous game of playing politics with security. Political mercenaries and religious combatants united by rapacious greed and chronic hatred have occupied the public space with putrid writings and toxic speeches,” he reacted.
Condemning the attitude of some Nigerians to the country’s security situation, Council President stated that rather than see the monstrosity that insecurity has become as a national challenge that requires collective action, some elements of disunity continue to engage in self-indicting propaganda.
“One of them is the recently organised street show by some religious leaders who give political coloration to grinding insecurity fueled by hypocrisy and hubris. But efforts must be doubled through the instrumentality of hard work and prayers so that the enemies of Nigeria will be unveiled and this is where Government must double or triple its efforts at counter-insecurity measures,” he stated.
The Council therefore cautioned Nigerians, especially those who associate terrorism with Islam and Muslims, to desist from such erroneous belief.
“We want to state in unequivocal terms, and for the umpteenth time, that Boko Haram does not represent Islam or Muslims. The group and the enemies of Islam hiding behind its mask are pursuing a rogue, venal and doggy agenda far removed from Islam.
“It is therefore the height of insincerity, wickedness, falsehood and hypocrisy to suggest that Boko Haram is a ploy to eliminate Christians, a dummy being promoted by some dealers camouflaging as religious leaders to their followers and the outside world.
“It is incontrovertible that more Muslims, including Imams, have been slaughtered, displaced and dismembered than Christians since Boko Haram became what it is: a hydra-headed monster. Indeed, more mosques have been bombed or destroyed in the bloody campaign, which has consumed precious lives including those of our professors,” the Council wrote in the document.
The Council also reminded all non Muslims that lots of Muslims have been attacked by terrorists, stressing that terrorism has no place on Islam.
“In September, 2018, a prominent Muslim General was murdered in cold blood and his body was dragged to an abandoned mining pit filled with water in Dura-Du District of Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State.
“The vicious Christian community that perpetrated the dastardly act then mobilised its shameless and barely clad women who protested unsuccessfully against emptying the pond in which the general’s remains and his car were found.
“We never generalised by accusing Christians in Nigeria of murdering Muslims or turned the unsavory development to a Muslim-Christian brouhaha. We rather called for the arrest and prosecution of the irresponsible women and those who committed the murder. Nothing concrete has been done against the community till date, a reflection of the selective justice usually at play against Muslims,” it stated.
Referencing Kaduna incident of February 2, 2020, the Council mentioned that if the Christian terrorist, Nathaniel Samuel, who attempted to bomb the Living Faith Church in Kaduna the same day that a circus was being organised in Lagos had succeeded, it would have been blamed on Muslims.
While disclosing records proving Christians’ involvemens in terrorism in Nigeria, with a view to blaming it on Muslims.
The following are instances, out of many failed terrorist acts and false operations that would have been blamed on Muslims in Nigeria if they had succeeded:
1. Mr John Alaku Akpavan, a Christian, was arrested on June 5, 2011 while attempting to bomb the Radio House, opposite the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
2. Ms Lydia Joseph, a Christian from Bauchi State and failed bomber of St John Catholic Cathedral, attempted to carry out her terrorist act on September 12, 2011.
3. A Christian indigene of Akwa Ibom State, Augustine Effiong, carried out a bomb attack on Bayero University, Kano, on April 29, 2012.
4. Emmanuel King, a Christian who disguised his religious identity by dressing like a Muslim, was arrested while attempting to bomb the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on December 28, 2011.
5. Christian traders of Igbo extraction gunned down a dozen fellow Igbo businessmen inside the Christ Apostolic Church, Adamawa State, on January 6, 2012.
6. Madam Ruth, a Christian, attempted to bomb the ECWA Church, Kalaring Kaltingo, in Gombe State on March 12, 2012
7. Some eight Christians were arrested in Bauchi in an attempt to bomb COCIN Church on February 26, 2012.
Another Christian bomber was lynched same day (February 26, 2012) while attempting to escape after bombing COCIN Church in Jos.
8. Jonathan Gyanet, a Christian police officer, was arrested while attempting to bomb ERCC Church in Akwanga Nasarawa State on April 20, 2014.
NSCIA therefore advised that rather than playing the blame game or playing to the gallery as ethnic irredentists and religious bigots, what is important is to support government to eliminate insecurity in Nigeria by addressing poverty and corruption.
Alhaji Yusuf Chinedozi Nwoha
Director of Administration,
NSCIA
Prof. Salisu Shehu
Deputy Secretary General
NSCIA
