KIDNAPPED NIGERIAN JOURNALISTS RELEASED

MURIC welcomes the release of the kidnapped Nigerian journalists. We urge Nigerians to stop paying ransom to kidnappers as this is capable of encouraging more abductions. Kidnappers are terrorists and they must be treated as such. The currently thriving kidnapping industry in Nigeria must be driven aground by every means necessary. Above all, the Nigerian police must wake up from its deep slumber to protect the citizens.

MURIC is of the opinion that there is more to incidents of kidnapping in South-Eastern Nigeria than meets the eye. The Nigerian government must therefore set up a powerful committee to investigate the immediate and remote causes.

MURIC rejoices with the members of the families of the freed journalists.

Dr. Is-haq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
234-803-346-4974

WHERE IS RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE?

The vicious cycle of religious violence claimed more lives in Taraba State, Nigeria, during the last week. We of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) frown upon religious intolerance, destruction of places of worship and shedding the blood of fellow homo sapien. Religion is love. It should forge unity of mankind.

The latest disturbance was sparked off by an attack by Christian youths on a mosque. The youths reportedly claimed that they did not want to see any mosque in the area. Interestingly, citizens of Tennessee, USA, also protested against the construction of a new mosque in the town. Like the Taraba Christian youths, they too did not want to see a mosque in their neighbourhood. Somewhere in Europe, minarets have been banned. In France, the Muslim female hijab is now outlawed.

Are we to infer from these incidents and conclude that Muslims have become endangered species?

WHO STARTED TERRORISM IN NIGERIA?

We must always seek to put the records straight. Nigerian Muslims have hitherto not been involved in terrorist acts within the country. Kidnapping for ransom or for any other purpose is terrorism and those involved in it in Nigeria today are from the South-East of the country. They are not Muslims. The first person to attempt to blow up a plane loaded with passengers in Nigeria was a Christian.

It is our hope and prayer in the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) that Nigerian Muslims will not engage in terrorist acts either against fellow Nigerians or against foreigners. Terrorism is shooting at a cluster of birds with the eyes closed. The bird you hit is not the bird you had in mind. The end of terrorism does not justify the means.

Muslims must therefore always seek to settle rifts through dialogue.

MURIC BLAMES OSHUN POLICE COMMAND FOR HARASSING JOURNALIST

16th July, 2010 PRESS RELEASE: MALTREATMENT OF PUNCH JOURNALIST: OSHUN STATE POLICE COMMAND BLAMEWORTHY   Mr. Tunde Odesola, a correspondent of the Punch newspaper, was on Wednesday rough-handled at a checkpoint in Ibokun, Oshun State, by a policeman, Corporal Ijede Emmanuel. The corporal reportedly threatened to shoot Odesola. He made attempts to pull the latter out of the driver's seat. As if he had gone berserk, he also threatened to open fire on other journalists who later arrived at the scene. They were saved by a timely call to the state's Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Clement Akinola.       We of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) lay the blame squarely at the feet of the Oshun State Police Command. Nigerians are not safe in the hands of a policeman who behaves more like a thug than a normal homo sapien. Both the rifle and the bullets in Corporal Ijede's hands were procured with tax payers' money, including that of the victim of his unprovoked assault, Mr. Tunde Odesola. We strongly condemn this Gestapo tactics.   MURIC calls on the Nigerian Police to retrain its men. There are too many unscrupulous elements in police uniform. This is not acceptable. A former Minister of Police Affairs once told Nigerians that our policemen could not shoot properly. Only yesterday (Thursday 15th July, 2010), both the former Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Kanu Agabi and the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, were quoted as describing Nigerian policemen as 'ill-trained'.    Oshun State Police Command must fish out this Bohemian of a cop and parade him before journalists the same way criminals in police net are paraded. This will teach others like him a lesson. Corporal Ijede must face orderly room trial if the State Command is truly prepared to instill discipline in its rank and file. The fact that too many Nigerians have been shot by the police in the past, particularly at roadblocks, makes this incident an eye-opener. We now know how many of those cases of stray bullets hit their victims. Had Odesola been an ordinary citizen without access to the media or to the PPRO, a carnage would have occurred at that checkpoint.   Finally, we remind the Commissioner of Police, Oshun State, that the buck stops at his table this time around. Apart from trying gun-totting, trigger-happy Corporal Ejedi Emmanuel, the Command must apologize to the Oshun State Chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists over this incident.   Dr. Is-haq Akintola Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) Tel. 234-803-346-4974   Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

THE PRICE OF MATERIALISM

The abduction of five journalists in Abia State on Sunday 11th July, 2010 x-rays the fallout of our materialistic society. Our governments at all levels were the first to use money as a bait to trap our youths. They introduced lottery. 'He fit be you!' Soon Nigerians were tricked with 'Win a car per day'. Today the telephone network providers invade our privacy with unthinkable offers turning all of us into gamblers! Now we are all dreamers, from Aso Rock to Ajegunle Jungle City. Those who cannot win and whose appetites have been wet are kidnapping the poor and the rich. We all cried foul when Islamic clerics called for a ban on gambling of all shades.

MURIC CONDEMNS ABDUCTION OF JOURNALISTS

13th July, 2010 PRESS RELEASE: ABDUCTION OF JOURNALISTS: A NATIONAL CALAMITY   The chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Wahab Oba, was kidnapped on Sunday alongside four other officials of the union in Abia State. The kidnappers have demanded two hundred and fifty million naira (N250,000,000.00) as ransom.          The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) condemns this criminal act in very strong terms and appeals to their abductors to release them unconditionally. We call on those who carried out this dastardly act to realize that they have picked the wrong persons this time around. While it may be true that lack of employment, inflation, hunger and other socio-economic factors were responsible for anti-social behaviours, picking on journalists is a gross miscalculation on the part of the abductors.   This is so because the Fourth Estate of the Realm is an unbiased umpire who is, more often than not, on the side of those at the bottom of the pyramid of deprivation. Journalists are not part of the problem. They are active spectators who report the injustice in society and seek to balance the social equilibrium. Instead of attacking them like one of the oppressors, they should be seen for what they are, namely, friends and associates of the downtrodden.   It is in this light that we want the kidnappers to see their new guests and on this note, we strongly appeal for their unconditional release.   This ugly incident must be viewed against the background of the current rush for material possessions which has gripped the Nigerian nation by the jugular. We have all abdicated our responsibilities and the youth are drifting. We turned the attention of our young ones to money-making ventures alone to the detriment of our national values. Both the Federal and State Governments threw caution to the winds by seeking revenue by all means, fair and foul. The Federal, State and local governments advertised lotteries and gambled away the future of this country.   This is the moment of truth. MURIC charges all stakeholders to retrace their steps. All relics of gambling and attractions towards material gains must be banned if we want to reform this society. The telephone network providers and others who offer salivating prizes and make the youth yearn and build castles in the air must be called to order. They are simply destroying the spirit of hard work in our young ones. The National Assembly has a crucial role to play in this regard.   Dr. Is-haq Akintola Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) Tel. 234-803-346-4974 Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

MURIC APPEALS TO LAGOS GOVT ON TAXATION OF PILGRIMS

 

                                                                             9^th July, 2010

PRESS RELEASE:

TAXATION OF PILGRIMS IS UNJUSTIFIABLE

 

Reports reaching our office indicate that the Lagos State Government has set in motion the machinery for collecting the sum of N50,000.00 as tax from every intending pilgrim registered with the state's Pilgrims' Board.

 

While we like to assume that this cannot be true and that it still remains a rumour, we owe it a duty to our teeming members across the state who have complained to us to seek clarification from the state government.

 

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), true to our avowed commitment to dialogue and the maintenance of social equilibrium, call on the government of Lagos State to make a statement on the issue. Such a statement will debunk the rumour if it is not true and render asunder attempts by spoilers to cause disaffection between the state government and the Muslim population.

 

Nonetheless, if it is true, the government must explain to the citizens of the state why it is so. Did the authorities consult the stakeholders before introducing such a measure? We call the attention of the Lagos State Government to the socio-economic quagmire facing Nigerians in general and the people of Lagos in particular. This situation turns any taxation of pilgrims into an unjustifiable affliction.

 

Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is therefore a religious duty and not a business trip which can attract extra income for the state government. On the contrary, the Lagos State government is expected to add its own input into measures calculated to make the exercise easy for the pilgrims.

 

MURIC therefore appeals to the Lagos State Government to rescind its decision if it is true that intending pilgrims are being taxed.    

 

MURIC also wishes to remind the state Pilgrims Board of the need to appreciate the excruciating pains which pilgrims go through before completing the processes of hajj. There is therefore an urgent need to simplify the exercise.

 

Dr. Is-haq Akintola

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

Tel. 234-803-346-4974