ISLAMIC SCHOLAR & WIFE ABDUCTED

6^th July, 2014

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC CHARGES SECURITY AGENTS TO PRODUCE ISLAMIC SCHOLAR & WIFE ABDUCTED IN OGUN STATE

Ustadh AbdulGaniy Jumah and his wife, Shakirah, were reportedly whisked away at gun point from his family house at Fagbemi Street, Off Ntabo Bus Stop, Ijoko, near Sango in Ado Odo Ota Local Government, Ogun State by 3 am yesterday morning (Saturday 5th July, 2014).

 

Although the abductors were said to be soldiers who came in three vehicles including a jeep, a bus and a van, none of them wore the army uniform. None of the neighbours could pick the vehicles’ plate numbers due to shock and confusion. Ustadh Abdul Ganiyy owns an Arabic school (modrasat) and teaches both working class and school children in Arabic and Islamic Studies in the area. Their whereabouts have since remained unknown.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) charges Nigerian security agents to produce the Islamic scholar and his wife whose abduction has started creating tension among Muslims in the whole South West. We remind the security agents that nothing warrants such night invasion since there is no state of emergency in the region.

We demand the immediate release of the Muslim couple or their arraignment in court within 48 hours of arrest according to the provisions of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

We suspect that this may be the beginning of a crackdown on scholars of Islam in Yorubaland in particular and the whole Southern Nigeria in general as part of the silent war on Islam in Western-dominated parts of the world.

Our suspicion is informed by the allegation that another Lagos-based Islamic scholar also disappeared last week. The miraculous disappearance of Razaq Gawat, a very popular Lagos-based Islamic socialite and televangelist is yet to be explained since about 14 months ago.

It is on record that millions of Muslims were killed in former Yugoslavia in the 90s. Muslims in Myanmar (formerly Burma) were burned in public and their homes destroyed in 2013.

Anti-Balaka Christian militants also recently hunted down, slaughtered or roasted hundreds of Muslims in the Central African Republic. In July this year, China banned fasting among Muslims. A blind, intolerant and anti-Muslim climate pervades the globe.

Yet while everybody is talking about peace, nobody is talking about justice. MURIC reminds Nigerian authorities that justice is the soul of peace. The same natural law of justice which stipulates that nobody can eat his cake and have it provides that nobody can deny one (justice) and still enjoy the other (peace).

The ongoing massacre of Muslims by Nigeria’s Boko Haram may be an orchestrated campaign being waged by unscrupulous elements in disguise with the aim of drastically reducing the population of Muslims in the country.

MURIC cautions Nigerian security agencies to desist from taking actions capable of generating tension. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of Ustadh Abdul Ghaniy Jumah and his wife, Shakirah. They should be charged to a competent court of law if they are suspected of committing any crime.

Nonetheless, we are not foreclosing the possibility of the abductors being operatives of any other criminal group but the onus is on Nigerian security agents to find the Muslim couple.

We alert the Ogun State Government to this dangerous development. We appeal to Ogun State House of Assembly and the National Assembly to wade into the matter. The people’s representatives must show concern when innocent citizens start disappearing.

Meanwhile we call on Muslims throughout the country to remain calm and law-abiding.

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)