NEW BOKO HARAM VIDEO: IT IS SHEER PROPAGANDA

15^th August, 2016

PRESS RELEASE:

NEW BOKO HARAM VIDEO: IT IS SHEER PROPAGANDA

Boko Haram insurgents have released a new video in which they claimed that Nigerian military had bombed some Chibok girls. They also offered to release the girls in exchange for some of their captured leaders.   

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) dismisses the new video as sheer propaganda. It is calculated to whip up anti-air campaign sentiments. It is a clear proof that the bombing is biting hard and hitting the insurgents where it hurts most.

Boko Haram released the video because its logistics are in shambles. It is surrounded on all sides. Its supplies are cut off. The game is up. Boko Haram should surrender instead of trying to hoodwink Nigerians with anachronistic tactics.

Boko Haram is known to have filmed its own dastardly operations. The victims shown in the video may have been victims of its several massacres of innocent civilians. The new video is nothing more than a fabrication. It is used as a ruse to escape the current pressure. It is also obvious that the girl in the video spoke under duress.

The new video is a ploy to discredit the Nigerian military. It is also calculated to incite Nigerians, particularly parents of the Chibok girls, their immediate neighbours, the Bring Back Our Girls group and the world at large against the Federal Government (FG). This may result in protests against bombings erupting in Abuja, Lagos and other key cities. The international community may also lash out at the FG over the method adopted to wage the war against the insurgents.

MURIC therefore cautions the Nigerian public and the world community not to fall into the trap of Boko Haram strategists. Boko Haram is shedding crocodile tears. We must ask the question, “When did Boko Haram hoodlums become interested in the welfare of the abducted Chibok girls?” We must not succumb to the cheap blackmail of night marauders.

Nobody should blame the Nigerian military for bombing the insurgents. Air superiority has always been used to gain advantage over the enemy, expedite military campaigns and minimize casualty particularly in terra incognito like the wide forests of Sambisa. There has also been increasing evidence that the Nigerian Army under its current leadership has been more professional and more committed to the military campaign in the North East. It has manifested all the qualities of a liberating army.  

Neither should we blame the present administration for the plight of the Chibok girls. While we admit that government is a continuum and any new administration must not only inherit the assets of the past government, it must also inherit its challenges and responsibilities, it will be grossly unfair to overlook the criminal negligence of the Jonathan administration.

Although the abduction took place on April 14, 2014, it is on record that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan refused to take action for weeks after that. The girls would have been rescued if the army had received an order for hot pursuit within hours of the abduction. But it was delayed until the abductors reached their safe haven. Jonathan, for reasons best known to him, allowed the criminals to dig in.

We advise the military to leave Ahmad Salkida (the journalist) alone. Scapegoatism is the last thing expected of the Nigerian Army in this dicey situation. The alert sent out on the journalist is suggestive of desperation. The security agencies should collaborate, exchange information via regular situation report sessions and use the intelligence gathered so far to trace the girls.

Whoever assumes that Ahmad Salkida knows the exact location of the girls is being naïve. Do you think the insurgents will be stupid enough to meet him anywhere near the girls’ hideout? Do you expect them to repose 100% trust in him? Have you ever heard of kidnappers meeting negotiators near their victim? The army must think of something else. Ahmad Salkida is not the problem. It will be unprofessional to scare the insurgents from approaching this journalist in future. We must also think of his personal safety as well as that of members of his family.

MURIC supports negotiation with the insurgents to secure the release of the girls. Exchange may also become necessary as offered by them in the new video but we must make sure that we are not shortchanged in the process. The parents have suffered enough.

In conclusion, we declare the new video as mere ruse designed to save Boko Haram from total annihilation. We affirm that it is naïve to blame the army or the present administration for the plight of the Chibok girls. We charge the military to relentlessly continue its onslaught on Boko Haram insurgents, bombings inclusive. We call on the insurgents to surrender. They should accept the military’s offer of good treatment for those who freely submit themselves.

Abdul Razaq Uthman (Acting Director)            
Shefiu Ayorinde (Public Relations Officer)                Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

MURIC TO NEW BOKO HARAM LEADER: LEAVE CHRISTIANS ALONE

7^th August, 2016

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC TO NEW BOKO HARAM LEADER:

LEAVE CHRISTIANS ALONE

The new leader of Boko Haram insurgents, Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawi, has called for the killing of Christians and the blowing up of churches.      

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) expresses total bewilderment at the depth of barbarism in the recent hate speech emanating from the leadership of Boko Haram. It is totally despicable and exceptionally criminal to target fellow products of the Adamic chromosome for annihilation. We have no doubt that this call could only have come from a twisted mind.

Islam is love, not hatred. Islam gives life, not death. It builds and does not destroy. The Glorious Qur’an only allows Muslims to fight in self-defence (Qur’an 2:190). It forbids unjust and unlawful killing (Qur’an 6:151). It compares anyone who kills his fellow man to one who kills all homo sapiens (Qur’an 5:32).

We remind the Boko Haram coercion ideologues of the moderate posture of the Glorious Qur’an towards non-Muslims. Qur’an 2:256 says there should be no compulsion in religion (Laa ikraahun fil diin).

Qur’an 10:99 completely sweeps the carpet off the feet of agents of belligerence as it declares, “So you forcefully compel people to believe in Allah? But they would all have believed if Allah had wanted it so!”

Our differences in matters of faith are therefore part of the deliberate and grand design of the Divine Creator. Allah also affirms in Qur’an 11:118 that there would still have been differences even if the whole world follows a single religion. So what is special about belonging to a particular religion if we do not share love?        

This is why Allah reminded Prophet Muhammad to limit his mission to reminding people and never to make any attempt at controlling people’s lives (Qur’an 88:21 – 22).

MURIC charges Muslims all over the world to limit their religious zeal to the true dictates of Islam as reflected in the verses of the Glorious Qur’an lest they transgress. They should leave those who reject Islam alone. Our hypothesis is that Allah did not give anyone the assignment to punish those who reject Islam.

This is reflected in Allah’s own words in Qur’an 88:23 – 26, “They (i.e. the non-Muslims) are coming back to Us and We will call them to account”. We therefore assert firmly, authoritatively and unequivocally that nobody can perform Allah’s role for Him.   

As we round up, we reaffirm our readiness to peacefully coexist with our Christian neighbours. We reject hate speeches and their authors whether from Boko Haram or the Islamic State (ISIS). The directive to attack Western interests is antithetical to the non-racial and pax vobiscum leaning of Islam.

We call on the Nigerian public and the rest of the world to separate criminals from their religion and desist from stereotyping Muslims as terrorists or their sympathizers. In this regard, we welcome the recent pronouncement of Pope Francis in which he urged the world to stop equating Islam with terrorism.

Although we are aware that Boko Haram is technically defeated, militarily debilitated and spiritually demobilized, it is not over until it is over. Nigeria’s security agencies still need to beef up security around Christian clerics and heighten vigilance in churches around the country.

Finally, we urge Muslims in the country to demonstrate solidarity with their Christian neighbours by ensuring that Boko Haram elements are not allowed to launch attacks on Christians in their neighbourhood. We have a duty to defend our Christian neighbours at this critical stage. This is the way to keep Nigeria united.

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

MURIC CONGRATULATES OLOYEDE ON HIS APPOINTMENT AS JAMB REGISTRAR

3^rd August, 2016

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC CONGRATULATES OLOYEDE ON HIS APPOINTMENT AS JAMB REGISTRAR

Professor Ishaq Oloyede, Secretary General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), was yesterday appointed Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB).

We rejoice with him and wish him a successful tenure. Given his wide experience in university administration, we have no doubt that he would bring positive changes to the national examination body.

MURIC urges the newly appointed Registrar to urgently give a human face to the national examination body. For a starter, all early morning JAMB examinations which start by 6.30 am should be stopped. The earliest an examination of the magnitude organized by JAMB can start is 9 am.

The last JAMB examination held in February 2016 exposed young Nigerians to serious danger. Two female candidates were reportedly kidnapped. Another was killed by hoodlums. Some others had their cell phones and cash snatched by hoodlums on their way to the examination centres because they had to leave home before daylight. The security situation in the country is not yet conducive for such early morning examinations.

We pray that Allah guides his actions and utterances in his capacity as the new JAMB Registrar.

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

SABOTAGE RETARDING NIGERIA’S PROGRESS

2^nd August, 2016

PRESS RELEASE:

SABOTAGE RETARDING NIGERIA’S PROGRESS

The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has been accused of low performance and delays in the implementation of projects. It has also been blamed for the high level of poverty in the country. Some critics have also insisted that the Buhari administration has not brought about any change at all.   

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) rejects these allegations. Buhari’s critics are like bad fire fighters who turn attention to the smoke instead of facing the fire. The more they fight the smoke, the more the fire burns and the worse the destruction. They are hypocrites and parasites, the more they look, the less they see.

MURIC cannot stand akimbo and watch Nigeria burn. We must address the real issues. In the first place, this administration has good plans for Nigeria but saboteurs are desperate to sabotage the plans. The main dramatis personae in the camp of Judas is the present leadership of the National Assembly who treacherously seized the mantle of power in the absence of others and without the blessings of party leaders.

The fact that corrupt and overambitious members of the ruling party conspired with the leading opposition party to seize the reins of power in the legislative arm confirms our contention that there was a grand conspiracy to sabotage efforts at saving the Nigerian people from economic and political slavery.

 It is this same clique that has constituted itself into a bottle neck in the National Assembly (NASS). But for the saboteurs, enabling laws for the creation of special courts for looters would have been promulgated. The smooth running of administration has also been made difficult by the attendant strain in the relationship between the executive and the legislature. The long delay in the passage of the 2016 budget as well as the unnecessary buck-passing and the ping-pong which characterized the exercise eloquently attest to our contention.   

Nigerians must open their eyes wider to recognize the real enemies of the people. We have a president who is universally recognized as a man of unparalleled integrity. But politicians who have skeletons in their cupboards have hijacked the legislature. With the remote control of the NASS in the hands of political caterpillars outside the hallowed house, a diabolical bloc continues to strangulate our land.

With hindsight, it has also become very glaring that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s concession of defeat was done in bad faith. He laid deadly landmines in the path of his successor and clearing these traps has not only been Herculean but also time-consuming. The current militancy in the Niger Delta is not an accident. It was in ‘Plan B’.

The saboteurs know that Buhari can get Nigeria out of the woods. Therefore they plan to frustrate his efforts. The idea is to create an economic cul de sac arising from inability to export oil. They expect this to make it impossible to execute projects which Buhari promised Nigerians. They also expect it to worsen the level of poverty. The next stage is to incite hungry Nigerians into an ‘uprising’ against the Buhari administration and force his resignation or impeachment by an already compromised NASS.

Nigerians must reject this satanic plan. The jamaaheer (masses) must be on alert. We must resist the temptation to vent our spleen on the present administration. We must evolve a shock absorber system capable of resisting the pangs of hunger and poverty. We must reengineer our societal values and norms and renounce materialism, corruption, greed, avarice and waste. We must say ‘No’ to political charlatans and eschew ethnicity, nepotism and religious bigotry.

Contrary to the claim of critics, Nigerians have witnessed lots of change since Buhari took over. For example, corruption is no longer celebrated, hitherto sacred cows now spend months in detention, leakages are being blocked, money-sucking government agencies have become money-spinners, states have been able to identify thousands of ghost workers thereby saving billions of naira, ministers no longer engage in frivolous expenditures and flambouyance, etc. It is only the blind and the mischievious who will pretend not to see all these.

In conclusion, MURIC reminds Nigerians that they should blame saboteurs for Nigeria’s present predicament. Buhari deserves encomiums for his steadfastness and high sense of discipline. We call on religious leaders to direct their followers to work for the progress of this country. We charge church clerics and Imams to pray fervently for the success of the Buhari administration, for peace and prosperity.       

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