The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has come out
and claimed that the Nigerian Army is using insurgency in some regions
of the country to persecute innocent Muslims and they have demanded an
immediate end to it.
MURIC Leader Ishaq Akintola
In a Statement signed by its Director, Ishaq Akintola said that in Abia State, last week some mosques where raided by the Nigerian Army. The military men arrested Chief Imam of Aba Central Mosque, Bashir Idris, and 14 others without
charging them.
The statement continued that even though the Muslim leaders have regained freedom, two teachers have not been released till today.
MURIC denounces the recent raid on Mosques by the men in uniform especially in the South Eastern part of the nation and blamed it on the overzealousness on the part of Easterners and the security operatives based in the South-East.
They said: “We affirm that this is contrary to the spirit of brotherhood expected among fellow Nigerians. It is also a usurpation of the Allah-given and fundamental human rights of Muslims and Northerners residing in the South-East as enshrined in Chapter IV, Section 41(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which stipulates that “Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof, and no citizen of Nigeria shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereto or exit therefrom.”
“By constantly raiding mosques, Nigerian soldiers are setting a bad precedent,” it said.
It also said by molesting Imams and Islamic scholars, Nigerian security agencies are engaging in ‘religious stigmatization, ethnic profiling and undue scapegoatism.
“These actions are not only most unethical but also highly unprofessional. They stand in contradistinction to international best practices among security agencies around the world where the focus is on intelligence gathering instead of the manifestation of Stone Age security gimmicks and dictatorial Gestapo tactics,” MURIC said.
It said by harassing Northerners and intimidating Muslims in the South-East, Nigerian security agents are sending out the wrong message to the rest of the world, that Muslims are now endangered species in Nigeria. The group said the allegation that the two detained teachers were storing bomb-making chemicals is spurious, baseless and unfounded.
“MURIC therefore demands the immediate release of the two teachers, the Chemistry teacher, Abdul Rahman Sani and the principal, Abdul Majid Abubakar. Who does not know that chemicals are needed to teach chemistry? Instead of keeping them incommunicado beyond 48 hours, the duo should be arraigned in a properly constituted court of law if anything is found against them.
They also blamed the Igbo leaders known, as Ohaneze, for not taking any action and helping out their guest from these sort of persecution they are faced with constantly.
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