The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Jihad

  • Police dismisses Plateau ‘Jihad’ rumour

    The Plateau State Police Command has urged the public to disregard an inciting rumour about a coming ‘jihad’ in the state.

    A statement by the police spokesman Tyopev Terna, a deputy superintendent of police, said an inciting document entitled: The Final Jihad on the Plateau was circulated on the social media by mischief makers.

    The Police said it was with the sole aim of creating fear, anxiety and hate among the peace-loving people of Plateau to cause a breakdown of law and order.

    The statement says: “After a thorough and careful investigation, the Plateau State Police Command realised that the initiator of this inciting document opened a fake Facebook account just for this purpose which he has since closed down.

    “The Command also found out that there was no truth in the write-up and considers it as the handiwork of faceless mischief makers who are bent on fanning the embers of religious and political hate and disunity in the state with a view to causing the breach of the peace in the state.

    “The Plateau State Police Command, therefore, warn that any individual or group of individuals caught circulating documents capable of inciting religious passion or promoting hate speeches will be dealt with in accordance with the extant laws of the land.

    “Members of the general public are, therefore, advised to ignore such insidious writeups and go about their normal and lawful businesses.”

  • ‎Group denies claim of Jihad in Nigeria

    A leading socio-cultural and political organisation under the auspices of Middle Belt People’s Progressive Congress (MBPPC) has come hard on the National Christian Elders Forum, (NEF), over its recent claim that Jihad had been launched in Nigeria.
    MBPPC said the claim by the group under the leadership of Solomon Asemota was a deliberate attempt to spark what it termed another conflagration and ethno-religious crisis in Nigeria.
    Recall that the NCEF had last Thursday after a meeting in Abuja claimed they have uncovered plots by some Islamists to impose Sharia ideology on the nation.
    In a communique issued after the meeting, which was attended by Gen. Joshua Dogonyaro (retd.), Gen. Zamani Lekwot (retd.), Elder Moses Ihonde, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd.), Elder Shyngle Wigwe, and Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife the group noted with concern the budding constitutional crisis in the country.
    Reacting, however at a press conference held in Abuja on Tuesday, Amos Yunusa the President General of the MBPPC said the First NCEF was a highly discredited body, which its membership is overly over populated by some persons with questionable characters,
    Yunusa said most members of the group confidently and conveniently laid the foundation of Nigeria’s present problems of ethno-religious crises and secession agitations, which have continued to linger and plague us as a people and a nation.
    He said, “The permutation is nothing beyond the desire of some self -serving and satanically inclined religious debauches’ to create chaos, anarchy and violence in the guise of representing the interest of Christians in Nigeria. Experiences have indicated that Northern Nigeria, particularly, the Middle Belt region is a fertile ground for such crises. Our elite have always exploited the innocence and vulnerability of our people, as NCEF presently postures, to create this confusion to ignite an eventual ethno-religious conflagration.
    “They cannot today throw a  satanic slap on our faces by accusing President Muhammedu Buhari of causing what they described as the “current” spate of ethno-religious crisis; agitations for secession in Nigeria, promoting jihadists agenda,  herders/ farmers clashes and  the disrespect  for Nigeria’s  Constitution and federal character principle.
    “It is more bemusing to unearth the persona inside some of the personalities in NCEF who are mouthing sanctimoniously about concern for Nigeria, sanity and Christianity.  In the NCEF meeting in Abuja, last Thursday, retired generals like  TY Danjuma,  Joshua Dogonyaro and Zamani Lekwot and the former Governor of old Anambra state, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife were among a retinue of others who graced the parley and released a public statement pontificating about saintliness.”
    The MBPP leader said the so-called Christian elders and self-styled elder statesmen unfortunately felt adopting the Nigerian usual game of bulk passing of blame to President Buhari would cleanse them of their repulsive past.
    He added, “In their infantile reasoning, they erroneously thought, they could hide their dark   misdeeds, with the diction of “current” problems in Nigeria and effectively blind every Nigerian to any sense of history and the subtle incitement to begin another mass massacre of themselves along religious, ethnic and political persuasions.
    “Except Gen. Danjuma flaunts a conscience that is dead, or else he would have reminisced that secession agitations and  jihadists agenda are not problems of today under a Buhari Presidency. We all know unmistakably that the gory events of the 1966 counter coup by young Northern military officers precipitated Col. Ojukwu’s declaration of a Biafran Republic.  He lost that war, but the dream has refused to extinguish in the minds Igbos in Nigeria, evident in the sprouting of MASSOB and IPOB years back before the  Buhari Presidency. Nigeria has lived with it.”
    “And for  ex- Governor of old Anambra state, Chief Chukwuemeka  Ezeife, recounting his narrative has been so bewildering. A man who has lived the Biafran dream in words and actions all his life, since its debut in 1967, deceptively sermonizes in the new millennium that lopsided federal appointments by President Buhari is responsible for the agitations by  his kinsmen for separatism. And he feels no modicum of shame to play this in public domain. That’s the extent dishonesty in Nigeria is garbed with garments of religion.
    “Nigerians who mouth such profane things against President Buhari forget easily that the deadly Islamic sect Boko Haram terrorists festered uncontrollably when Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian was President of Nigeria. But Buhari has crushed it. We ask rhetorically that is it not easier enough for a leader with a Jihadist agenda like they have tagged President Buhari to have allowed, sustained and nourished Boko Haram to overwhelm Nigeria?
    The group further observed Nigeria is crippled today because of its systemic plundering by the likes of some members of NCEF, notingthat, “if these loots are returned to the coffers and put into good public use, it will substantially alleviate   some of these problems and vanish the agitations.

  • Inheritance Bill: Auchi monarch threatens Jihad against Senate 

    the Otaru of Auchi in Estako West Local Government Edo State, HRH Aliru Momoh, the Ikelebe III, has threatened to lead a jihad against the Senate over its proposed Inheritance Bill.

    The Otaru, who is the state chairman of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), noted that issues bordering on inheritance have been concluded in the Holy Qur’an.

    Speaking at the 20th Auchi Day annual celebration, HRH Momoh said nobody could alter anything about inheritance, which had been passed over 1,400 years ago by the Almighty God in the Qur’an.

    The monarch noted that he has a committee in his kingdom deals with the sharing of inheritance to ensure justice in accordance with the Quran.

    He warned of dire consequences, if anybody tampered with inheritance matters, as given by God.

    Momoh said: “The issue of inheritance has been passed over 1,400 years ago by the Almighty God in the Qur’an. Who is capable of altering that?

    “If anything, I believe sincerely it is a joke. But if it is not, I will lead a spiritual jihad against the Senate, should they alter the issue of inheritance as dictated by the Qur’an. Who are they?

    “A lot of us have the volition to do what we like but those volitions are limited in the sense that the human brain cannot surpass what has been explained by Almighty God.

    “Nigeria is at peace. The peace we prayed for is gradually coming to us. Boko Haram is gone; the Avengers have been diminished.”

    The Otaru hoped that President Muhammadu Buhari would lead the country to glory because of his integrity.

    He urged Nigerians to embrace the policies and programmes of the Buhari administration to enhance national development.

    Governor Godwin Obaseki, who was represented by the chairman of the state’s Inland Revenue Service, Chief Oseni Elamah, urged Auchi indigenes to key into his Reform agenda, especially in agriculture and solid minerals.

    Obaseki promised to revamp the Auchi Fertiliser Company as well build roads in the area.

  • Taliban announces start of spring offensive in Afghanistan

    The Taliban has announced the start of their spring offensive on Tuesday.

    The offensive tagged “Operation Omari”, was named after the late Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar.

    The Taliban, in a statement released in Helmand, pledged to launch large-scale offensives against government strongholds backed by suicide and guerrilla attacks to drive Afghanistan’s Western-backed government from power.

    It read that “Jihad against the aggressive and usurping infidel army is a holy obligation upon our necks and our only recourse for re-establishing an Islamic system and regaining our independence’’.

    The Taliban statement said further that as well as suicide and tactical attacks, the operation would include assassinations of enemy commanders in urban centres.

    “The present Operation will also employ all means at our disposal to bog the enemy down in a war of attrition that lowers the morale of the foreign invaders and their internal armed militias.’’

    In line with recent statements, it also said it would establish good governance in areas it controlled as well as avoiding civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure.

  • Jihad Week at poly

    The Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, (MSSN) at the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti has said it is set for its upcoming Jihad Week.

    The Amir of the association, Abubarkar Tijani, said the event, which will last for eight days, would feature Tafsir (lecture), open air Dawah, sisters’ circle, film show, public lectures and humanitarian visits to hospitals and prisons by members.

    He also said the last day of the event would witness the inauguration of new officers of the body.

    Speaking to CAMPUSLIFE, Chairman of the Planning Committee, Abdulsalam Abdulrafiu thanked the Amir and promised to promote the interests of members.

    The programme with the theme: “Islam: the alchemy of change” would begin on the January 5, 2014.

     

  • Muslim students hold Jihad Week

    Muslim students hold Jihad Week

    The University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) Muslim Community in collaboration with the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), UNILORIN chapter, has held a public lecture to mark the formal opening of the 1434 Jihad Week.

    The lecture was held at the university auditorium.

    In his lecture entitled: Why are we here, Dr Abdulqadri Sambaki, urged Muslims to worship and remember Allah. He said that human beings’ actions should be in conformity with the instructions of Allah and the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed.

    Sambaki noted that serving Allah was not only through ritualistic manners, “but we can also serve Allah through our ways of life, and it shall be rewarded accordingly”. He added: “Every action of human backed with good intention of serving Allah shall be rewarded by Him.”

    He dismissed the belief that man was not created by God, but only exist through evolution. He said: “We are made to understand in the Holy Quran that there is creation of human beings through the developmental stages of foetus in the mother’s womb”. He stressed that human beings were created by God to Him.

    The chairman of the occasion, who is also the immediate Vice Chancellor of the school, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, advised Muslims to look for positive and appropriate means of propagating Islam and retaining the interest of people.

    He also urged them to always be in the company of virtuous and righteous people who were better than them in piety, stressing that this would make them better Muslims.

    Oloyede, who is the Secretary of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), also enjoined Muslims to maintain a cordial and peaceful relationship with their counterparts from other religions.

    The second speaker, Ustadth Abdullah Bukarti, a law graduate of Bayero University Kano (BUK), spoke on Man sojourn in this world and in the hereafter. He reminded about the life in the grave and the Day of Judgment. While advising students to make good use of their youthful period, he noted that the youthful stage was the most productive and challenging stage of man existence.

    The highlight of the occasion was the launching of Al-Bayan magazine, a publication of MSSN, and the presentation of prizes to the winners of the inter-faculty quiz competition, annual secondary school quiz competition and the secondary school impromptu speech presentation, all organised by MSSN.

    Present at the occasion were Prof Hussein Oloyede, former VC, Fountain University, Osogbo, Prof Y.A. Quadri, Prof Babatunde Adeleke, chairman, UNILORIN Muslim Community and the Dean Faculty of Science, Dr Mahfouz Adedimeji, former director, Directorate of Information and Protocol, UNILORIN.