THREAT OF LEGAL ACTION: MAKINDE IS BLUFFING - MURIC

 

15^th January, 2025

PRESS RELEASE:

THREAT OF LEGAL ACTION: MAKINDE IS BLUFFING - MURIC

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has threatened to take legal action against the five kingmakers of Oyo town who rejected the appointment of Hakeem Owoade as the Alaafin. The threat was issued yesterday, Tuesday, 14^th, January, 2025 during the presentation of staff of office to Owoade. However, an Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has described Makinde’s threat as a bluff and sheer hocus pocus.

MURIC took this stand in a public statement circulated to newsmen on Wednesday, 15^th January, 2025 by its Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

According to MURIC:

“The governor of Oyo State, Engr Seyi Makinde, has threatened to take legal action against the five kingmakers of Oyo town who rejected the appointment of Hakeem Owoade as the Alaafin. The threat was issued yesterday, Tuesday, 14^th, January, 2025 during the presentation of staff of office to Owoade.

“According to Makinde, he was ready to drop the ‘charges’ if they asked Oba Akeem Owoade, the recently appointed Alaafin of Oyo, for forgiveness. In his own words, ‘The money they collected; they will still be prosecuted except they go to Kabiyesi. If he forgives them, I will also forgive them’ (https://crimechannels.com/gov-makinde-threatens-legal-action-against-oyo-kingmakers-over-selection-of-alaafin/).

“Having forced his preferred candidate on the good people of Oyo, the governor is now pushing the opposition to the palace. Carrot and stick method is being applied after committing monumental illegality. Makinde is bluffing. It is sheer hocus pocus.

“Seyi Makinde has also accused the Oyomesi of taking bribe from one of the contestants. This is a grave allegation. MURIC is constrained to ask the governor to provide evidence to back this serious allegation. It remains mere conjecture until the governor shows his evidence. Until then, Makinde can say that to the marines. It is armtwisting. We hope the Oyomesi will not succumb to this.

“Oyo State governor has made a mincemeat of the theory of the separation of powers. He is both the executive and the judiciary. Sitting in an imaginary court of law, Makinde pronounces a crime, reads out the offence and pronounces the judgement.

“We can visualize the courtroom scenario as His Excellency The Lord Justice’s voice rings out, ‘I hereby sentence the offenders to a remorseful visit to the palace with hundreds of prostrations by the beaded chiefs of Oyomesi before the anointed king or jail terms yet to be determined for accepting bribe’. Courrrrrrt!

“Nigerians are not fools. Neither are the good Yoruba people. Makinde wants to legitimize the illegitimate. But try as he may, he cannot delay the Nigerian democratic calendar as scheduled for May 2027. We are enjoying the comedy.”

#MakindeIsBluffing

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola, 

Founder/Executive Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

 

MURIC HAILS OYO KINGMAKERS FOR REJECTING MAKINDE’S ALAAFIN DESIGNATE

 

13^th January, 2025

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC HAILS OYO KINGMAKERS FOR REJECTING MAKINDE’S ALAAFIN DESIGNATE

Oyo kingmakers have rejected Governor Seyi Makinde’s appointee for the Alaafin stool. Meanwhile, an Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has lauded the kingmakers for standing firm on the path of truth and for speaking truth to power. The organization urged the kingmakers to remain undaunted and to resist intimidation and coercion.

MURIC spoke on Monday, 13^th January, 2025 through its Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola. 

The statement reads:

“Oyo kingmakers (the Oyomesi) have rejected Governor Seyi Makinde’s appointee for the Alaafin stool, Prince Hakeem Abimbola Owoade. In a letter signed by their legal representative, Adekunle Sobalolu, and addressed to the state governor, the Oyomesi declared the appointment of Owoade as null and void; illegal and unlawful. Five out of the seven members of Oyomesi wrote the letter.

“The kingmakers said they never recommended Hakeem Owoade to the governor at all. They said it was Prince Lukman Gbadegesin who was recommended by them on 30^th September, 2022 (https://guardian.ng/news/alaafin-designate-oyo-kingmakers-reject-owoades-appointment/).

“The five kingmakers who formed the majority and recommended Prince Lukman Gbadegesin since 30^th September, 2022 are the Bashorun of Oyo, High Chief Yusuf Layinka; the Lagunna of Oyo, High Chief Wakeel Oyedepo, the Akinniku of Oyo, High Chief Hamzat Yusuf and two others.

“MURIC hails the Oyomesi for standing firm in the path of truth and for speaking truth to power.

“It beats imagination how Governor Makinde ignored the recommendation of the majority to pick a candidate of the minority. The governor simply waited and waited while he shopped around for a candidate that fits into his unholy scheme.

“MURIC condemns Makinde’s rough-tackle methods. The appointment of Owoade as Alaafin designate is gross abuse of due process. It tantamounts to abuse of power. It is abracadabra.

“Here is a glaring manifestation of the words of Lord Acton who said, ‘Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority.’

“If Governor Makinde is oblivious of the truth in the words of Lord Acton, he cannot feign ignorance of the famous words of Abraham Lincoln who said, 'You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.

“Makinde can fool some people in Oyo, he cannot fool the Oyomesi. As the last men standing, the Oyomesi have refused to be fooled. We salute them for this. History will surely be kind to them and their names will be written in letters of gold. We remind the Oyomesi that they are the defenders of the traditions and customs of the ancient city of Oyo. The good people of Oyo town, nay, the whole Yoruba race, looks towards them with hope.

“Before we draw the curtain, we assert that Makinde is racing against time, yet he cannot draw back the hands of the clock. He cannot be governor forever. Neither will Nigerians accept him as the landlord of Aso Rock given his antecedent and dictatorial mien as governor. The legal tussle between him and the Oyomesi will endure beyond his term and then what? He who laughs last laughs best.”

#KudosToOyomesi

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola, 

Founder/Executive Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

 

APPOINT, TURBAN YOUR IMAM NOW: MURIC TELLS OYO TOWN MUSLIM COMMUNITY

 

11^th January, 2025

PRESS RELEASE:

APPOINT, TURBAN YOUR IMAM NOW: MURIC TELLS OYO TOWN MUSLIM COMMUNITY   

In the wake of the appointment of another person as the Alaafin of Oyo contrary to the decision of Oyo kingmakers, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has advised the Muslim community of Oyo town to turban their Imam immediately without waiting for the newly appointed Alaafin to give the next Imam his staff of office.

This was disclosed in a statement issued on Saturday, 11th January, 2025 by the Executive Director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

He said:

“Governor Seyi Makinde has approved the appointment of Prince Abimbola Akeem Owoade as the new Alaafin of Oyo. The Oyo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, made the announcement yesterday, Friday, 10^th January, 2025.

“The Oyo State branch of MURIC has condemned this act of executive impunity due to the fact that there is still a case in court on the same matter. Nonetheless, and as a follow-up action, MURIC headquarters wishes to advise the Oyo town Muslim community to save itself and the rest of the Yoruba Muslim community from monumental embarrassment by turbaning its own Chief Imam immediately.

“The former Chief Imam Oyo town, Shaykh Moshood Adebayo Ajokidero, died on Thursday 26^th January, 2023 and since then no Chief Imam has been appointed. We are aware that the Muslim community of Oyo town had been waiting for the appointment of the Alaafin because they believe that the latter must be involved in the selection and turbanning of the Imam.  

"This is not only erroneous but archaic and retrogressive. It is public knowledge that the king does not appoint the bishops and pastors. Neither does he give them any staff of office. So what makes the Imam different? The Imam does not need the king's staff of office.

“But the question is why have the Muslims swallowed the idea that the king must give the Imam his staff of office hook, line and sinker? The truth is that this was designed to render the Imam permanently subservient to the king. It is left for the Muslims to think outside the box and this is the time to do it. Muslims everywhere in Yorubaland must liberate themselves from the shackles of feudalism, neocolonialism and neo-imperialism.

“It is on record that Britain abolished the trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1807 and the United States took the cue a year later (1808). Despite these bans, trans-Atlantic slave trade continued into the 1860s. This, unfortunately, is the general impression.

 

“In reality, however, slave trade has never stopped. It manifests under different guises in different locations. In Yorubaland, the Muslims are the scape goats. Their oppressors use remote control to neutralize and enslave them. Just as the British colonial masters used the traditional rulers during their indirect rule, the state governors in the South West of Nigeria have been using the traditional rulers to remotely control Muslim communities.

"This exploitation must stop. It is clear that Yoruba Muslims are not free. They have been driven en mass to the slave market and cheaply sold. Slave trade is not over in Yorubaland.

Although it is not written in any law, Yoruba Muslims have innocently and naively surrendered their independence to the kings by allowing the latter to give staff of office to their new Imams. This has led to the king being seen as possessing some influence and power over the Imam while the former parades himself as the Imam's boss with the power to hire and fire. This is an illusion.

"But the truth is that there is no law backing such an awkward arrangement. Imams are leaders of Muslim communities chosen by the Muslims themselves. No law makes the Imam subservient to the king. The ball is therefore in the court of Oyo town Muslim Community.

“They have the golden opportunity to declare their freedom now by appointing an Imam and turbaning him. The city is now in a state of interregnum. Two good years have elapsed without a Chief Imam.

“It is time to appoint and turban one. Oyo Muslim Community is advised to involve the state’s Muslim community by inviting the leadership of the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN) to give the new Imam his staff of office. The presence of government officials is not necessary. That is how it should be.”

#OyoMuslimCommunity

#AppointAndTurbanChiefImam

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola, 

Founder/Executive Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

 

IT IS SUBJUDICE: MURIC REJECTS MAKINDE’S CHOICE OF ALAAFIN

 

10^th January, 2025

Press Release:

IT IS SUBJUDICE: MURIC REJECTS MAKINDE’S CHOICE OF ALAAFIN

The government of Oyo State has announced the appointment of Prince Abimbola Akeem Owoade as the new Alaafin of Oyo. The Oyo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, made the announcement today, Friday, 10^th January, 2025.

But the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has described the appointment as illegal, illegitimate, unlawful, unconstitutional and the height of impunity.

The Islamic human rights organization reacted a few hours after the announcement on Friday, 10^th January, 2025 via a press statement issued by the Chairman and secretary of the organization in Oyo State, Barrister Abdulwaheed Lawal and Amb. Mallam Ibrahim Agunbiade respectively.

 

They said:

“The government of Oyo State has announced the appointment of Prince Abimbola Akeem Owoade as the new Alaafin of Oyo. The Oyo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, made the announcement today, Friday, 10^th January, 2025 (https://oyoinsight.com/despite-litigation-makinde-approves-new-alaafin/).

“This appointment is illegal, illegitimate, unlawful and unconstitutional. It is the height of impunity.

“It is surprising that Governor Seyi Makinde could ignore the recent letter written by the Oyo Kingmakers, expressing their displeasure with the Governor's attempt to restart the selection process despite a pending court case. The new selection is therefore subjudice.

“Besides, Makinde has made a caricature of the tradition and custom of the ancient town of Oyo Alaafin with this appointment. It is lawlessness without borders.”

Barr Abdulwaheed Lawal,

Chairman,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC),

Oyo State Chapter.

 

Amb. Mallam Ibrahim Agunbiade,

Secretary,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC),

Oyo State Chapter.

 

MURIC CELEBRATES ACADIP AT 30

 

10th January 2025

PRESS RELEASE

MURIC CELEBRATES ACADIP AT 30

The Academy of Islamic Propagation (ACADIP) Nigeria began its five-day long program to mark three decades of da’wah on Wednesday, 8th January, 2025. Meanwhile, the Oyo State branch of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has sent a message of brotherhood and solidarity to the Islamic body and institution. 

MURIC described ACADIP as the leading Islamic Organization in Nigeria and Africa at large in the area of propagating Islam through comparative dawah.

 

 

 

MURIC’s solidarity message was contained in a statement given to newsmen on Friday, 10th January 2025. The statement was signed by the chairman and secretary of the organization in Oyo State, Barrister Abdulwaheed Lawal and Amb. Mallam Ibrahim Agunbiade respectively.

 

The statement reads:

"A foremost Islamic organization and institute of comparative dawah, the Academy of Islamic Propagation (ACADIP), began its five-day long program on Wednesday, 8th January 2025 to mark three decades of da’wah. The celebrations will come to an end on Sunday, 12th January 2025 at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.

“MURIC expresses its unflinching solidarity with ACADIP on this momentous occasion. We celebrate with the National President and Chief Lecturer of this great organization, Mallam Yusuf Adepoju, whose visionary guidance and exemplary leadership have propelled ACADIP to greater heights.

"It's been three decades of preaching the words to the world by our amiable and extraordinary intellectual Scholar whom Allah has chosen to guide and lead thousands of non-Muslims of Nigeria and beyond to Islam. He has distinguished himself with his eloquent delivery through surgical analysis of the Glorious Qur'an, Hadith, and the Bible.

"ACADIP is a golden lamp that has illuminated all that is around it. Millions of Nigerians have benefitted from its programs, particularly revertees. ACADIP Primary Schools are spread throughout Southwest Nigeria. This is apart from its empowerment programs for women, youths and the elderly.

"MURIC appeals to the federal and state governments in the country as well as Muslim philanthropists to vigorously fund projects of ACADIP. 

 

 

 

 

“We Charge the organization to remain focused and to pay greater attention to its youth wing to preserve its enduring culture of spiritual and social growth." 

“MURIC celebrates you on this milestone of achievement and prays that Almighty Allah never forsakes you. May your light continue to shine bright across the world. Aameen.”

#Acadip3decades 

#SheikhYusufAdepoju

#MuricCelebratesAcadip

 

Barr Abdulwaheed Lawal

Chairman 

Muslim Rights Concern

 (MURIC) 

Oyo State Chapter 

 

Amb. Mallam Ibrahim Agunbiade

General Secretary

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

Oyo State Chapter

 

MURIC CONGRATULATES TVC ON OPENING OF NEW LOCATION

 

9^th January, 2025

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC CONGRATULATES TVC ON OPENING OF NEW LOCATION

  

An Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has congratulated Television Continental (TVC) on its opening of a new location at Eko Atlantic City four years after the #EndSARS protesters attacked the television station. The group described destroyers as agents of the devil who have now been put to shame.

This was contained in a press statement issued on Thursday, 9^th January, 2025 by the Executive Director of the group, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

The statement reads:

“Television Continental (TVC), one of the leading media houses in Nigeria opened its new location at Eko Atlantic City on Monday, 6^th January, 2025, four years after #EndSARS protesters attacked the television station.

“It will be recalled that the headquarters of the media house located at Ketu-Ikosi, Lagos, was burned down in a premeditated attack by hoodlums on 21^st October, 2020 during a live programme (https://dailytrust.com/breaking-tvc-on-fire/). Once again, we reiterate our condemnation of the attack on TVC. It was heinous, horrendous and preposterous.

“Today, we stand on the threshold of history to rejoice with and congratulate TVC as it opens its new location at Eko Atlantic City. This new location includes state-of-the-art digital studios which are considered the largest and most advanced in sub-Saharan Africa.  

 It is indeed the actualization of the adage that says the king’s house that burns has only added more beauty to the structure. At this juncture, we pay tribute to the men and women journalists, both management and staff of TVC, who have worked assiduously to put agents of the devil to shame. We give special kudos to the courageous, visionary and dynamic TVC management.

“As advocates of dialogue and friends of the Fourth Estate of the Realm, we condemn all acts of violence and coercion perpetrated against journalists and media houses. We join the Committee To Protect Journalists (CPJ) in condemning the detention, harassment and attacks on several Nigerian journalists in the line of duty.  

“MURIC advises violent-prone youths to think twice before looting or burning properties. Media houses in particular are monuments of liberty and mementos of our hard-won democracy. They are sacred souvenirs of our freedom. They deserve respect in times of crisis.

“Those who attack media houses are therefore, more often than not, nay-sayers, authors of negativity, rebellious subjects, enemies of truth, antagonists of progress and die-hard advocatus diaboli.

“We charge Nigerians to reject destroyers. We must declare merchants of violence persona non grata in our lives. That does not mean that we must kowtow to all poohpooh from the system. We can still register our grievances with civility, adopting decorum and electing dialogue.

“Once again, MURIC congratulates TVC and commends the resilience of both management and staff. The opening of this new location is light at the end of the tunnel. It is victory of righteousness over evil.”

#TVCEkoAtlanticCity

#CongratulationsTVC

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola, 

Founder/Executive Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

 

SHARIAH PANEL: YORUBA MUSLIMS NOT AFRAID OF LEGAL ACTION – MURIC TELLS YORUBA GROUP

 

7^th January, 2025

PRESS RELEASE:

SHARIAH PANEL: YORUBA MUSLIMS NOT AFRAID OF LEGAL ACTION – MURIC TELLS YORUBA GROUP

  

A Yoruba group under the name Yoruba Council Worldwide (Igbimo Apapo Yoruba Lagbaye) has threatened to take legal action against Muslims planning to launch Shari’ah panel in Oyo town, Oyo State if they go ahead with the plan. But the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has told the Yoruba group that Yoruba Muslims are not afraid of legal action.

The Islamic human rights group corrected the impression that a court was being inaugurated. It insisted that what was being planned was not a Shari’ah court but a Shari’ah panel which has been in existence in Yorubaland since 2003 to date. It therefore accused the Yoruba group of making a mountain out of a molehill.

MURIC’s declaration came in a press release issued on Tuesday 7^th January, 2025. It was signed by its Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

It reads in full:

“A Yoruba group under the name Yoruba Council Worldwide (Igbimo Apapo Yoruba Lagbaye) has threatened to take legal action against Muslims planning to launch Shari’ah ‘court’ in Oyo town, Oyo State if they go ahead with the plan.

“But this is a deliberate attempt to create tension because, in reality, nobody is planning to inaugurate a Shari’ah court. What is being planned in Oyo town is a Shari’ah panel. It is only the state or Federal Government that has the constitutional power to create a court.

“On the contrary, any group of people can set up a panel. A panel is just a committee. A group can set up a committee or panel and an organization can do same. The Yoruba group is just crying wolf where there is none because we explained all these in our statement of Thursday, 26^th December, 2024 (https://independent.ng/shariah-makinde-needs-briefing-muric/).

“We want to correct the impression that Oyo Muslims plan to inaugurate a Shari’ah court. What Oyo Muslims are planning is not a Shari’ah ‘court’ but a Shari’ah panel. This is something that has been in existence in Yorubaland since 2003 to date. It therefore accused the Yoruba group of making a mountain out of a molehill.

“How sensible is it for anyone to say Muslims should not form a committee? How logical is it to say Muslims should not hold meetings inside their mosques and halls? This Yoruba group is not well informed, otherwise it should have known that what it is trying to stop already exists in all the states of the South-West.

“Already, there are Shari’ah panels sitting at the Central Mosque, Oja Oba, Ibadan, Oyo State (since 1^st May, 2002); Abesan Central Mosque, Ipaja, Lagos State (since 2003); Egba Muslims Central Mosque, Kobiti, Abeokuta, Ogun State (since 17^th  January 2018); Osun State Muslim Community Secretariat, Ring Road, Oshogbo (since 2005).

“Going by the venues mentioned here it is clear that the Shari’ah panels are not using government’s buildings or courts. They use mosques because the Shari’ah panels are private arbitration panels. But they already exist. So this Yoruba group is trying to shut the stable door after the horse has escaped.

“Only those who want to make caricatures of themselves will think of stopping the Shari’ah panels. They are not disturbing anybody. They have never and will never invite Christians to appear before them.

“Even the Muslims who appear before them do so voluntarily because the Shari’ah panels have no power of enforcement. So what is the big deal? Why so much fuss? Isn’t this much ado about nothing? What does this Yoruba group want except to heat up the polity? They are attention seekers.

“Even the letter sent by the group was addressed to the wrong person. The letter was addressed to Shaykh Abdul Rasheed Hadiyatullahi whereas the latter is not part of the Oyo town team. He is in Iwo, Osun State.

“Their claim that Shari’ah has no history in Yorubaland is absolute bunkum. To set the records straight, Shari’ah is of great antiquity in this part of the country. We will tell them about it because our people say ‘when a child rejects pounded yam in the evening, his parents will narrate the story of his mother’s marriage to him.’

“Where were these people who are now opposing ordinary Shari’ah panel in Yorubaland when Oba Abibu Olagunju of Ede employed Qadi Sindiku to operate the Shari’ah court at Agbeni area of Ede town? The court functioned at Agbeni up till 1913. It was moved to Agbongbon area of the town in 1914.

“Where were they when Oba Momodu Lamuye who died in 1906 established a Shari’ah court in Iwo? Were they born yet when Oba Aliyu Oyewole of Ikirun employed Mallam Bako as the qadi (judge) from 1910? This is history. This is our past, the past of Shari’ah. We will not allow anyone to cut us away from our past. Today was born from the wombs of yesterday.

“It was the British imperialists who curtailed the application of Shari’ah via the repugnancy and validity tests and replaced them with Christian common law in the whole South-West but they retained civil Shari’ah in the North.

“It is only that civil Shari’ah that Yoruba Muslims are activating in their Shari’ah panels without official involvement because none of the South-West governors since independence have had the liberal or democratic mien to allow the application of Sections 275(1), 276 and 277 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution which allow the practice of Shariah in any state with substantial Muslim population.

“It is gratifying that the Yoruba group has threatened to go to court. We assure them that Yoruba Muslims are not afraid of legal action over Shari’ah. The law is on our side. But we advise that they should take a good look at the sections of the constitution cited above before doing so and make sure they ask those who went to court before over Shari’ah. We are waiting.”

#ShariahPanel

#NotAfraidOfLegalAction

 

Professor Ishaq Akintola, 

Founder/Executive Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)