25th September,
2022
PRESS RELEASE:
ZAMFARA
KILLINGS, MURIC HAILS MEDIA, SLAMS CAN
The Muslim Rights Concern
(MURIC), has hailed the Nigerian media for properly reporting the killing of
Muslims in Zamfara last Friday 23rd September, 2022. However, the
Islamic human rights organization slammed the Christian Association of Nigeria
(CAN) for falsely claiming that it was only Christians that are being killed in
Nigeria.
MURIC’s statement
came on Sunday, 25th September,
2022 via its director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
The statement reads
:
“Terrorists invaded
the Friday prayer mosque in Ruwan Jema town in Bukkuyum Local Government Area
of Zamfara State Friday, 23rd September, 2022 killing fifteen (15) and
injuring forty eight (48) Muslim worshippers. The armed men hid their guns
inside their clothes and pretended to be worshippers. They opened fire on
innocent worshippers after entering the mosque.
“MURIC is particularly impressed by the
manner in which the killing was reported. Unlike in the past when the killing
of Muslims attract little or no media attention and mere casualty figures are
given while the religion of the victims are deliberately left out, this time
around, the Nigerian press really went to town with stories of the Zamfara
killings and most media houses identified the victims as Muslims. This is quite
laudable.
“The Media Monitoring Unit
(MMU) of MURIC reported the use of the following captions in different media
houses to describe the Zamfara killings (https://saharareporters.com/2022/09/24/breaking-scores-worshippers-killed-terrorists-attack-zamfara-mosque-during-jumaat;
https://dailypost.ng/2022/09/24/bandits-invade-mosque-kill-15-worshippers-in-zamfara/;
https://www.thecable.ng/15-worshippers-killed-as-bandits-attack-mosque-in-zamfara;
https://muslimnews.com.ng/2022/09/25/terrorists-attack-zamfara-mosque-during-jumaat-prayer-kill-15-worshippers-turkiye-envoy-mourns/;
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/09/bandits-attack-zamfara-mosque-kill-15-worshippers-2/;
https://pmnewsnigeria.com/2022/09/24/terrorists-shoot-15-worshippers-dead-in-zamfara-mosque/;
https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2022/09/25/terrorists-invade-mosque-kill-15-worshippers-injure-others-in-zamfara/;
https://punchng.com/bandits-attack-zamfara-mosque-gun-down-worshippers/;
https://tribuneonlineng.com/gunmen-kill-15-worshippers-in-mosque-in-zamfara/;
https://www.channelstv.com/2022/09/24/terrorists-attack-zamfara-mosque-kill-at-least-11/;
https://thenationonlineng.net/bandits-invade-zamfara-mosque-kill-15-worshippers/)
Even some foreign media like Voice of America
(VOA) and Reuters were not left out of the fair reportage (https://www.voanews.com/a/armed-bandits-kill-15-at-mosque-in-northwest-nigeria-residents-say-/6761811.html;
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/armed-bandits-kill-15-mosque-northwest-nigeria-residents-2022-09-24/;
https://newscentral.africa/fifteen-killed-forty-eight-injured-as-bandits-ransack-zamfara-mosque/)
We salute them all.
“However,
a few media houses need to be awake to the sensitivity of the revelation of identities
when reporting incidents like this. It may not have been deliberate, but
newsmen need to be conscious of the need not only to be fair but also to be
seen to have been fair. At least one or two media houses left out the identity
of the faith of the victims of the Zamfara killing (https://www.tvcnews.tv/2018/06/police-confirm-fresh-attack-in-zamfara-village-15-killed/;
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/265729-police-confirm-15-killed-in-zamfara-attack.html).
“Both the press and
non-governmental organisations should be partners in progress. We cherish the
emerging culture of equity, fairness and professionalism in reportage. Both
Christians and Muslims deserve fair representation in media reports. This will
promote peaceful coexistence among the different faiths.
“The manner of reporting the Zamfara killings thus revealed the fact
that it was Muslims that were killed and injured last Friday. We therefore wonder
how the Christian Association of Nigeria arrived at its conclusion that only
Christians were being killed in Nigeria and it tried to sell such a dangerous
idea to the West, knowing it to be false.
“MURIC is constrained to ask CAN if the 15 worshippers
killed and the 48 injured in Zamfara mosque last Friday were also Christians?
What of the 200 worshippers killed and the 165 injured in Boko Haram’s bomb
attack in Kano Central Mosque on 28th November 2014 (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30250950)?
Were they also Christians? Do Christians attend Jumu’ah prayers in mosques?
“The intention and likely outcome of such vicious
lies are not lost on us. America and its Western allies like Britain, France
and Germany are likely to impose travel sanctions on Muslim leaders in
government, label some Islamic organisations in Nigeria as terrorist groups,
place some Islamic scholars on terror watch and begin a process of secret
supply of weapons to Christian leaders and Nigerian churches.
“But the greatest benefit would have been a
geometric increase in the pouring of monetary support in billions of dollars, euro
and British pounds to Christian leaders and groups.
“MURIC condemns the killing of innocent
Muslims who had only gone to the mosque for their Jumu’ah prayer last Friday. For
the umpteenth time, we reiterate our stand that terrorists and bandits are not
part of us. They belong to the evil circle of criminals. They are not part of
the Muslim community.
“They are rebellious subjects and enemies of
peace. Nobody, therefore, should associate them or their actions with the peace-loving
and law-abiding Muslims of Nigeria. In the same vein, it will be naïve for any individual
or group within or outside the country to link the actions of terrorists and
bandits with the Nigerian government.
“We commiserate with Bello Matawalle, the governor
of Zamfara, on the senseless killing of innocent citizens of his state. We pray
that Allah will forgive the dead and grant the bereaved families the fortitude
to bear the loss and the economic empowerment to take care of dependants left
behind by their bread winners. Above all, we pray for peace in Zamfara, the
entire North and the rest of Nigeria.”
Professor Ishaq
Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights
Concern (MURIC)
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