ABDUCTION OF BAYELSA GIRL: ARREST YUNUSA YELLOW NOW!

1^st March 2016,

PRESS RELEASE:

ABDUCTION OF BAYELSA GIRL:

ARREST YUNUSA YELLOW NOW! 

The alleged abduction of a Bayelsa girl, Ese Oruru, from Yenagoa to Kano by one Yunusa Yellow, is currently stirring controversy in Nigeria. The girl in the eye of the storm is presently in the protective custody of the Nigeria Police in Kano preparatory to her return to Bayelsa today.        

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) commends the role of the Emir of Kano in the Ese Oruru affair. The police have also acted very professionally. Nonetheless, we demand that Yunusa Oruru, the ‘boy friend’ with whom the girl eloped should arrested and prosecuted.

Our position is based on the fact that the girl is a minor. Attempting to marry off the girl without her parent’s permission is not only a breach of common law but also a violation of the Shariah provision on the need for the parents’ approval before nikah (Islamic marriage) can be deemed valid (La nikah bila waliyyin).

Of particular significance in this regard is the express command in the Glorious Qur’an that women should be married with the permission of their parents. The Qur’an says inter alia, “ …And marry them (i.e. women) with the permission of their parents(Qur’an 4:25).  

While we are aware that Yunusa Yellow’s intention was marriage inspired by love and not abduction for pecuniary benefits, the position of the law is quite different. Although the two lovers eloped and the girl herself was a consensual participant as confirmed in the audio clip, the girl’s age as a minor gives her parents every right to reclaim her.

But the boyfriend cannot go scot free if it is established that he had had canal knowledge of the girl. In fact, his case is judiciable both before the Kano Shariah court and the Yenagoa court although the latter has the stronger jurisdiction. The girl should be properly examined in the hospital in Kano today before being taken to Yenagoa.

The fact that Yunusa is a Muslim cannot becloud our sense of justice. The Qur’an commands Muslims to “…Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses of Allah, even if the case is against yourselves, or your parents, or your family, and whether it is against a rich or poor man…” (Qur’an 4:135).

MURIC cannot afford to be partisan. A fellow Muslim, Yunusa, has violated the law and caused a Christian family to go through a traumatic period. Unless it can be proved that the girl came to Kano separately and alone, not in the company of Yunusa, the latter stands culpable. He should therefore be handed over to the Yenagoa authorities with immediate effect. This must be done in order to serve as deterrent since this type of behaviour is capable of igniting anti-Muslim emotion.    

However, MURIC wishes to make a clear distinction between this case and those involving Muslim families alone, regardless of the age of the girl. The sensationalisation of intra-Muslim marriages to minors is uncalled for and, more often than not, done with hidden malice. What happens among Muslims is strictly a Muslim affair and should remain so as long as it is Shariah-compliant.    

The issue of Ese Oruru’s conversion does not even arise. She is deemed to be an adherent of her parents’ religion until she attains maturity. Section 38 (ii) of the Contitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 stresses the right of parents on their children in matters of religion. The purported conversion is therefore null and void and of no consequence whatsoever. Ese Oruru cannot be free to choose her own faith until she is 18.

MURIC is not in any way excited by the girl’s purported conversion for lack of due process. There must be no overzealousness in matters concerning conversion to Islam. Just as Qur’an 2:256 affirms that there must be no compulsion in religion, in the same manner, Muslims must not exhibit excessive enthusiasm to win converts.

The Emir of Kano, His Eminence Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, displayed immense understanding of the issues at stake and acted like a responsible leader and a knowledgeable Muslim by ordering that the girl should be returned to her family.

We are on the same page with the Emir and we believe that the matter should have ended there. As far as we are concerned therefore, the girl is still a Christian. We wish her journey mercies back to Bayelsa.     

Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
08182119714

FAYOSE RUNNING DIARHEA OF THE MOUTH

28^th February 2016,

PRESS RELEASE:

ALLEGATION THAT BUHARI IS ISLAMISING NIGERIA: FAYOSE RUNNING DIARHEA OF THE MOUTH   

The governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, yesterday alleged that Buhari was Islamising Nigeria by visiting Saudi Arabia.

By making such a wild and untenable statement, Fayose has just emerged as the most idle executive governor Nigeria ever had. The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) is now convinced that the landlord of Government House, Ekiti, is an unrepentant rabble-rouser and an advocatus diaboli nulli secundus whose only good quality lies in his high nuisance value.

In the ranking of present and former governors of this country, Bola Tinubu stands tall as the greatest politician of our time, Lateef Jakande and Raji Rasaki were action governors, Fashola was the most performing governor, Rauf Aregbesola is the unusual and activist governor, Kwankwaso is the liberator of the North, Tambuwal is the undeniable champion of education.

In the club of governors, Fayose is the only square peg in a round hole. Apart from being the brain behind Ekitigate, the self-confessed bus conductor should point at a single thing that he has achieved since becoming governor in Ekiti. Just as we have money-miss-road among money-bags, Fayose is simply the executive-governor-miss-road among our governors of today.     

Nigerians should help us ask Fayose where he was when his erstwhile mentor and former President Jonathan turned Jerusalem to the back-yard of Aso Rock, shuttling between Nigeria and Israel with jet-loads of marabouts and arms money. Was Fayose’s moth padlocked at that time?

Even a ten-year old Nigerian child knows the reason for Buhari’s visit to Saudi Arabia. Turbulence in the price of oil has greatly impoverished Nigeria and Buhari is employing diplomacy to turn round our oil fortune. Playing pranks with Buhari’s visit to Saudi Arabia simply shows that Fayose has lost all sense of objectivity. Like a comedian governor and a court jester primus inter pareil, Fayose prefers to cast a wicked joke with the fate of the Nigerian economy.  

But his attempt to whip up religious sentiment has failed woefully because Nigerians know that Fayose is a pathological liar, an unstable politician and an unreliable judge of men.

MURIC wonders how the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) picked Fayose as its gubernatorial candidate despite the existence of better options. The people of Ekiti are well-known as hardworking, resourceful, scholarly and highly intelligent. Why pick Fayose of all people? PDP is advised not to shop for its next candidate from Ado Ekiti motor park.

The landlord of Ekiti Government House is running diarrhea of the mouth. A counter-statement issued by the former minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, cements our position. While it is good that the statement came from a PDP leader, we must emphasize that Fayose needs more than ordinary counter-statements, what the man needs is regular and heavy doses of flagyl and tetracycline to curb his oral diarrhea.

Nigerians are tired of Fayose’s noise. This governor is not paying any attention to the problems of his state. Instead of working hard as a state governor, Fayose is working as PDP megaphone round the clock. Is the Ekiti State House of Assembly sleeping?  

Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
08182119714

MURIC CONDEMNS DISTRIBUTION OF CONDOMS ON VALENTINE’S DAY

16^th February 2016,

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC CONDEMNS DISTRIBUTION OF CONDOMS ON VALENTINE’S DAY 

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, AHF, on Sunday 14^th February, 2016 distributed 500,000 units of condom across different locations of Abuja to commemorate Valentine’s Day. The Foundation also organized concurrent distribution in six states in Nigeria and 36 countries worldwide.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) strongly condemns this action. It is not only misleading but wrongly timed.

Apart from the promotion of sexual licentiousness, public and indiscriminate distribution of condoms to both married and single individuals (including secondary school students) on Valentine’s Day is both a disservice to history and a dishonor to St. Valentine himself.

MURIC wishes to straighten the records in view of this crude attempt to distort history. The proper way to mark Valentine’s Day is to mount a strong campaign against premarital sex in particular and sexual promiscuity in general. This is based on the fact that St. Valentine himself died fighting against these societal evils.

Students of history will recall that Emperor Claudius outlawed marriage in the 5^th century and forcefully conscripted young men into the army. Sexual recklessness followed the issuance of this decree. St. Valentine confronted the emperor’s draconian decree and joined young men and women in marriages in order to bring sanity back to society. He was subsequently arrested and executed on 14^th February, 270 C. E.  

It is therefore an attempt to distort history for any group to mark the day by distributing condoms. Valentine’s Day is not a day for encouraging young girls to lose their virginity. It is not a day to promote fantasies and secretive datings. All these lead to fornication, adultery and the attendant pains of abortion, teenage pregnancy, single motherhood and irresponsible parentage.   

St. Valentine can be better honoured and productively remembered by mounting a campaign against premarital sex, encouraging preference for marriage to immoral relationship, showcasing the beauty of the institution of marriage as opposed to celibacy, promoting family values, and highlighting responsible parentage.

By the same token, we opine that the distribution of condoms gratis to the public as a way of fighting HIV and AIDS is sheer window-dressing. Those who are genuinely interested in stopping the AIDS scourge are advised to strike at the roots. Indecent and provocative dressing among women is at the root of sexual recklessness in society. Any country which succeeds in controlling this phenomenon will find it easy to reduce the transmission of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases to their barest minimum.    

In conclusion, we remind Nigerians that every single habit in society is a parameter for judging its people, its present as well as its future. We owe it a duty to check today’s immoral practices to avoid descent into the abyss of Sodom and Gomorrah. We charge religious leaders to focus on the reorientation of moral values in general and the reengineering of sexual perceptions in particular.  

Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
08182119714

PUNISH CROOKS BEHIND BUDGETRY INEXACTITUDE

11^th February 2016,

PRESS RELEASE:

PUNISH CROOKS BEHIND BUDGETRY INEXACTITUDE  

 The National Assembly (NASS) yesterday suspended debates on the 2016 budget claiming that it is full of errors.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) is deeply worried by the controversy surrounding the 2016 budget proposal. We are nonplussed by the revelations emerging from both the Presidency and the NASS. There is strong evidence of sabotage. Corruption is fighting back.

There is no gainsaying the fact that any delay in passing the budget has far-reaching effect on the nation’s economy. What is most disturbing is the attendant bandwagon effect on the jamaaheer (masses) who will certainly bear the full brunt of the delay.

We recall that the same budget was once declared missing in mysterious circumstances with accusations and counter-accusations between the Presidency and the NASS. The discrepancies recently discovered in the budget suggest the involvement of a sophisticated budget cabal collaborating with an unrepentant extremist opposition clique determined to wreck the economy in order to score a political point.

This is corruption fighting back and dirty. It will be recalled that the Ministry of Health had also cried foul over the contents of its own allocations in the proposed budget.

MURIC strongly suspects that fifth columnists are actively engaged in a bitter and desperate battle to re-open the drain pipes which the new regime has been struggling to block.

It is obvious at this point, even to the blind, that there has been an age-long practice of siphoning the nation’s resources into private pockets through the doctoring of the budget on an annual basis. The irregularities in the budget proposal may also be traced to the landmines laid by the past regime with its zero hour recruitments and appointments.  

The budget department in the Ministry of Finance cannot claim ignorance of this fiscal inexactitude. Accounting error emerging from such a sensitive unit of government is unprofessional. It smirks of gross ineptitude and it should not go unpunished. The Federal Government needs powerful pesticides to exterminate the budget parasites.  

We therefore call for the immediate overhauling of all government departments and units associated with the preparation of the budget. This budgetgate must be probed and the culprits must be punished according to the laws of the land in order to serve as deterrent to others. We must not allow a budget cabal to hold 180 million Nigerians to ransom.  

Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
08182119714