The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Muslim women

  • Muslim Women flay schools, airports, FRSC, others over hijab rights violations

    Muslim Women flay schools, airports, FRSC, others over hijab rights violations

    A coalition of Muslim women organisations yesterday renewed calls for an end to discrimination against hijab-wearing women across Nigeria, urging governments and institutions to fully implement constitutional and judicial protections.

    Speaking at a at a briefing held at the Lagos State Secretariat Community Central Mosque (LSSCM) Hall, Ikeja, to commemorate the World Hijab Day, the coalition marked the global event under the theme “Unity in Hijab,” with a locally adopted theme of “One Sisterhood.”

    Addressing reporters, Executive Director of the Hijab Rights Advocacy Initiative (HRAI)Hajia Mutiat Orolu-Balogun, said Muslim women in Nigeria were joining millions around the world to reaffirm the hijab as a symbol of faith, dignity and unity, not a basis for exclusion.

    She explained that World Hijab Day, observed annually on February 1, was to promote religious tolerance and understanding. According to her, the hijab cuts across ethnicity, class and ability, uniting Muslim women as one sisterhood.

    Despite constitutional guarantees, Orolu-Balogun lamented that hijab-wearing women in Nigeria still face harassment and denial of rights in schools, workplaces and public institutions.

    Speaking on “The Hijab: Faith, Not Fashion,” Maryam Abdur-Rasheed of Pure Heart Foundation (PHF), stressed that hijab is a divine command rooted in the Qur’an, not a cultural or political statement. She noted that restricting the hijab violates Section 38 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees fundamental right to freedom of religion.

    Read Also: First Lady, Ooni of Ife launch ‘Dream Centre’ to mentor young Nigerians

    Raising concerns about minority communities, Kudrah Ogunmuyiwa of the Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN) highlighted the plight of Igbo Muslim women, who she said face double vulnerability due to ethnicity and religion. She condemned recent hate speech and threats against Igbo Muslims, calling on law enforcement agencies and community leaders in the Southeast to act decisively.

    The issue of inclusion also featured prominently, as Hussainat Akintola of Al-Mu’minaat drew attention to the challenges faced by Muslim women with disabilities. She described widespread inaccessibility, insensitive treatment and exclusion from public and religious spaces, demanding disability-friendly mosques, inclusive policies and reasonable accommodations.

    On education, Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) Lagos State Area Unit Amirah, Rofiat Tijani, decried what she described as subtle but persistent discrimination in schools, despite Supreme Court judgments affirming the right of Muslim students to wear hijab. She cited practices such as forced “tuck-in” rules, concealment under berets and threats of suspension as violations of the law.

    Concerns were also raised about harassment at ports of entry and immigration points. Akanbi Maryam of Akhwaat alleged that hijab-wearing women are routinely forced to remove their hijabs for biometric screening, contrary to international standards and Nigerian regulations.

    Similarly, Ummulkhayr Adeleke-Lawal of Nasrul-Lahi-il-Fatih Society (NASFAT) condemned reports from driver’s licence centres, where Muslim women are allegedly denied biometric capturing unless they expose their ears. She noted that Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) guidelines and international biometric standards do not require visible ears, describing the practice as discriminatory and unlawful.

    Presenting the coalition’s demands, Nimat Salako of the Lagos State Secretariat Community Central Mosque and Riskiah Adam-Adedimeji of The Criterion called on the federal, state governments, law enforcement agencies, educational institutions and regulatory bodies to issue clear directives, train personnel, sanction offenders and establish complaint mechanisms to protect hijab rights.

    Dr. Halimah Ogunbekun of An-Nujabau, emphasised unity, declaring that no Muslim woman should be left behind due to ethnicity, disability or location. She stressed that discrimination, not the hijab, is what divides society.

    The coalition called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, governors, lawmakers and all Nigerians to uphold justice and constitutional fidelity, urging that 2026 be remembered as a year Nigeria chose unity over prejudice and equal rights over discrimination.

  • Polygyny ‘ll correct societal imbalance, say Muslim women

    Polygyny ‘ll correct societal imbalance, say Muslim women

    The Criterion, an association of Muslim women in business and other professions, has advocated justice in the practice of polygyny, saying it’s a means of correcting societal imbalance not meant to punish women.

    The faith-based Muslim women organisation said that polygyny is not the rule but a solution to some social and communal challenges that are often brought about by natural occurrences and sometimes man-made.

    In a communique signed by its Amirah (female president), Hajia Mariam Morenike Saba and presented before the participants by the General Secretary, Hajia Qudrat Okanlawon at the end of its annual seminar, The Criterion also stated that monogamy is not a guarantee for happy marriage.

    Members of the organisation and their male counterparts from The Companion graced the discourse at the Shamsideen Adisa Thomas Mosque, Old Secretariat, Ikeja Lagos.

    Hajia Saba said polygyny serves several social and moral purposes including the protection of widows and orphans, control of immorality and demographic imbalance.

    Read Also: Cricket U-19 World Cup: Nigerian girls rout Scotland in final warm up

    She, however, said it could be seen as figure 6 or 9 depending on the perception and experiences of individuals.

    “Polygyny is desirable but not meant for every man. Abuse of this provision is not the fault of the institution but that of the practitioners. Justice is, therefore, the main qualifier to practice it,” she noted.

    Imam of Police Barracks, Falomo, Dr Tajudeen Adebayo, who spoke on the topic: “Polygyny: A Means to Social Justice and Family Harmony,” emphasised the relevance of polygyny to men’s health, saying that it prevents prostrate enlargements.

    He said: “Studies have shown that prostate challenges are faster to come the way of men with one wife than those who are into polygyny. The truth of the matter is that one woman is not sufficient to take care of a normal man throughout his lifetime. Sometimes, in the month, she is naturally unavailable. She is equally not available after childbirth for at least 40 days. That may be added to days when she comes back home tired from work.

    “When old age sets in, she is naturally not disposed to any sexual advance. We don’t have to deceive ourselves as Muslims. We are lucky to have a provision for polygyny in our sacred book. Those who don’t have it are envious of us. Some of them are technically monogamous, but in their privacy, they have many side chicks, which might turn up at his graveside to pay their last respect to their breadwinners.”

    A matchmaker and marriage counselor, Mrs. Mariam Nurudeen-Arole, argued that the West normalised the impression that monogamy is the only acceptable and considerable option for marriage.

  • Thousands rally against ‘hijab discrimination’

    Thousands of Muslim women and students yesterday stormed the streets of Lagos to express displeasure about their continuous harassment in schools and workplaces.

    They said that despite their peaceful nature, they were being molested and victimised for putting on the hijab.

    The women, who held an awareness rally, were members of Al-Mu’minaat (The Believing Women) Organisation, Federation of Muslim Women Association (FOMWAN), Nasrul- lahi -li Fathi Society of Nigeria (NASFAT) and the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) and Organization of Tadhamunul Muslimeen (OTM) among others.

    During the rally, the aggrieved Muslims displayed placards with inscriptions promoting the acceptance of the use of hijab in Lagos State and Nigeria.

    Clad in different hijabs, they move from Maryland (SUBEB) to Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park Ojota. Another group walked from Roundabout bus stop Otto to Cele bus stop Ijanikin. The third group moved from Joju roundabout to Sango Roundabout.

    The rally was organised in commemoration of the 2019 World Hijab Day (WHD).

    Speaking with reporters, the Amirah (President) of Al-Mu’minaat in Lagos State, Alhaja Khadijah Abdus-Salam, lamented that government officials are “assaulting” school girls and female Muslims for wearing Hijab.

    She said: “It is noteworthy that this year’s WHD commemoration is with mixed feelings for on one hand, we are happy that the awareness and campaign had gained considerate momentum so much that it is marked in so many countries. However, the antagonists of Hijab project have unabatedly continued their projects and persecution of our school girls and women in Hijab. Some school principals assaulted school girls for no reasons other than wearing Hijab, why this?

    “Hijab is not a symbol of oppression. It is freedom from disrespect, prying eyes of lustful men in the society. We are treated differently and looked upon differently because of what we wear, some look at Hijab as a form of enslavement, it is not, rather it’s liberation. We are being harassed with a metal detector, body search and passing through an extra security check, why? Enough is Enough! Stop this discrimination! Hijab tells those I meet to deal with my intellect and not to focus on my body.

    “Hijab has come to stay, it is a divine injunction and the word of our Lord is True. We say to the world; Let us be! Let the Hijabis make their choice, don’t design what we should wear, our Lord is the Best Designer. It is not something that I might want or not want to do; it is something I have to do. Does wearing Hijab affect you personally or has an effect on the society? Let us be! It is so infuriating when my Hijab is used as a symbol for their ignorance and worse indeed.”

    The representative of NASFAT, Mujeedat Abajo Musa, described hijab as a constitutional right that is capable of reducing rape in the society.

    Read also: Police arrest man for allegedly producing bullets

    She said: “Hijab is a constitutional right. With hijab, the issue of rape can be reduced in a state like Lagos. For peace to reign, we want them to respect us.”

    MSSN representative Hajia Rahmah Olaoluwa, urged Muslim women to be bold to put on their hijab.

    “Our hijab is our right. We should never be shy to defend ourselves. We should always speak up. As Muslims, we must be free from oppression. Let us be free to put on our hijab anywhere, including schools. You have a legal right to wear the hijab, enjoy it,” she said.

    FOMWAN’s representative Hajia Rofiat Owonikoko, said that Islamic organisations won’t stop engaging the government and appropriate authorities if hijab harassment persists.

    “Hijab is Allah’s injunction. Our hijab is our own Permanent Voters Card (PVC). The time for us to take massive action has come. Hijab cannot continue to be a sign of oppression,” she said.

    Reacting to why hijab-wearing Muslims are being harassed in Nigeria, Hajia Sherifah Yusuf-Ajibade, Coordinator of Social Advocacy Project (SAP), said: “I think it is bigotry and Islamophobia. Everywhere in the world, there is freedom of religion. If you don’t deny other peoples’ right, why should you be disturbed to practice your own right? People in foreign schools are not denied their right to use the hijab, why should ours be different?”

     

     

  • Muslim women lament decadence in society

    The National Amirah (President) of Al-Mu’minaat (The Believing Women) Organisation, Hajia Nimatullah Abdullateef has lamented the society’s drifting towards moral decadence.

    Hajia Abdullateef who stated this while addressing Muslim women during the formal closing of 23rd National Convention and Annual Training Forum (ATF) on Sunday at the Vanguard Academy, Odosengolu, Ogun State, said shameful acts in various forms have become the order of the day, and until mankind revert to their creator, solution to the challenges will remain elusive.

    She said: “Today, man is in a state of confusion. Social vices and moral decadence have become the norm in the society, music has become the order of the day and musicians are using their medium to promote all sort of atrocities, evils and social vices. Our Muslim women cannot freely use their hijab, our young girls are not safe, our women at homes have become victims of battering, and rape.

    “Apart from the prevalence of moral decadence and social vices in the world today, there is also a disheartening situation of economic recession and political instability, war, insecurity and insurgency. The situation is so terrible that suicide has now become the order of the day, as suicide rate keeps increasing at alarming rate daily.”

    She, however, stated that efforts made by world leaders to proffer solution to these problems will only amount to futility if recourse is not made to God.

    Read also: Oyo pays 81 pensioners N204m gratuities

    According to her: “Allah emphasises the need for mankind to keep a steady and constant relationship with Him for proper guidance. So, any attempt by man to run his affairs by himself without the guidance of the creator will only put him terrible situation. The only hope is to revert to Allah and adopt the pristine teachings of Islam.

    “This proposition is not merely hypothetical as its actual manifestation can be seen all around us. A very good example is the recent trend in the financial sector globally on the adoption of the Islamic Non-Interest Banking (NIB).”

    On the forthcoming general elections, Hajia Abdullateef urged the federal government and the electoral body to adopt the Islamic principle of justice, equity, fairness and truthfulness in the conduct off the elections.

    She also advised the electorates not to show apathy, but actively participate in the process without fear or favour.

    Also, in a lecture titled ‘Islam the only Hope’, Hajia Idiat Jumah, a seasoned teacher in the state, advised women to remain steadfast in their prayers and unflinching in their relationship with God, adding that Prophet Ibrahim and others relied unto Allah in the face of challenges.

    She advised leaders to make available interest-free loans, arguing that the subsisting interest-based loan is capable of exacerbating the economic condition of the borrower.

    In her goodwill message, the Deputy Director, Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning, Hajia Jelilat AbdulHamid, thanked the organisers of the event, adding that the forum has helped a lot Muslim women to rediscover themselves in their spiritual and economic pursuits.

     

  • Wearing of Hijab: The travails of the contemporary Muslim woman

    Wearing of Hijab: The travails of the contemporary Muslim woman

    For a lot of Muslim women, the wearing of Hijab is definitely a priority. In simple terms, it is a cloth worn by Muslim women to cover their heads and bodies.

    In spite of the many benefits of wearing Hijab, the Muslim woman sometimes feel out of place and outcast in the Nigeria society.

    For instance, there are some organisations where the wearing of Hijab is prohibited especially in some corporate organisations like banks and also in some schools. This prohibition placed on it by such organisations is mostly interpreted by the Muslim woman as an overt display of sentiment.

    Also, for those who bicker that the wearing of Hijab does not really portray who you are or your sense of decency, yes I agree, however, it is sometimes is a litmus that indicates how decent and religious you are.

    It helps the Muslim woman to identify herself especially with her religion and where she belongs to. Till date a lot of Muslim women still get insulted and discriminated against for no just cause for wearing their Hijab.

    No thanks to those who have in the past smeared and wrongly brandished the sacred culture of Hijab wearing on the canvass of debauchery, malpractices, indecency and other social vices.

    Also, the wearing of Hijab has received a corrosive publicity especially in the wake of Boko Haram insurgency. Quite a number of suicide bombers (females) have been reported to have worn it to conceal their nefarious intentions.

    Thus, all “Hijab wearers” are now being perceived of threats to our nation’s security owing to the above explanations. However, it should never be a basis for generalization.

    To set the records straight, it is pertinent that the writer explains the persona of the Hijab-wearing Muslim woman. She is:

    1. Honest
    2. Has integrity
    3. Loyal
    4. Decent
    5. Religious
    6. Congenial
    7. Peace loving
    8. Law abiding

    Please note that the above qualities are in no way exhaustive.

    Now, a piece of advice to our lawmakers: There should be a law in the constitution of our beloved county that protects the Muslim woman to freely express herself especially when it pertains the wearing of Hijab both in corporate, secular, government and non-governmental organisations.

    This will go a long way to creating and maintaining a peaceful and convivial environment for us all.

    God bless Nigeria!

  • Muslim women rally for hijab

    Muslim women rally for hijab

    Muslim women in Remo Zone of Ogun State has held a rally and lecture to make case for use of hijab in the country.

    Under the auspices of the Coalition of Muslim Women in Remo, the event was commenced with a rally round the major streets in Sagamu town with variety of Islamic slogans and rhymes.

    The rally which took off at about 9am at Sagamu Central Mosque to Maku road, Bright Fashion junction, Surulere,  Baruwa and  Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital Road, Ayegbami,  all within Sagamu township.

    After the rally that lasted for about three hours, the crowd returned to the Central Mosque where special lecture was delivered.

    An erudite Islamic scholar and Chief Imam of Ansar-ud-deen Society, Alhaji Abdul Rahman Otutu, emphasised the need for Muslim women to protect their chastity and fear Allah in their dressing, stressing that hijab is a fundamental principle of Islam that cannot be compromised.

    Imam Otutu urged Muslim women to be a role model and give priority to the care and training of their wards over other worldly engagement.

    The cleric used the occasion to pray for President Muhammadu Buhari.

  • Why Muslim women wear hijab

    Why Muslim women wear hijab

    Muslim students  commemorated the World Hijab Day with a sensitisation rally in some parts of Lagos State last Monday. MIFTAUDEEN RAJI (300-Level Mass Communication, University of Lagos) reports.

    Beyond its religious necessity, hijab, a headscarf worn by Muslim women to cover  their upper parts of the body, is seen as a source of pride and dignity by youngsters. During the celebration of the World Hijab Day last Monday, Muslims came out in large number in hijab to march through Lagos.

    Muslim youths in higher institutions, under the aegis of Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), held a procession across the state to promote understanding on the use of hijab.

    The procession started at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and it took the students through Ikeja and Yaba, where the Amirah (Female Head) of the Lagos State Unit of MSSN, Hajia Hafsah Badru, addressed the participants.

    Hajia Badru, who spoke on the theme of the event: Beautiful, confident and empowered, said wearing hijab was not a symbol of women oppression, noting that the willingness of the women to commemorate the day had dispelled the belief that the use of headscarf was foisted on them.

    “Muslim women desire to put on the Hijabs. It is not a symbol of oppression or segregation. We choose to wear it and we love it. It makes us beautiful, confident and empowered,” she said.

    She called for severe punishment against anyone who harassed Muslim women over the use of hijab, urging the government to prosecute security agents, who maltreated women in hijabs.

    •Hajia Badru
    •Hajia Badru

    Hajia Badru said: “The avalanche of agonising stories and revelations of intimidation of Muslim women in hijab in recent times are condemnable. We see them as acts against the laws of the land and Allah’s decree. Our stand is simple; if the government is truly not the one sending the security agents to harass Muslim women wearing hijab, it should prove that by fishing out the perpetrators of this heinous transgression against our women.

    “This is because the act of harassing women clad in hijab needs to be combated not only at the point of commission, but also after the act has been committed. The law remains the law and it must be duly applied, irrespective of whom it favours or not.”

    Badru, who condemned in entirety the activities of the Boko Haram sect, explained that Hijab worn by Muslims was not to support or aid the sect’s activities.

    Blaming corruption as a factor that gave room for abuses of Muslim women, Hajia Badru said: “Muslim women’s reason to wear hijab should not be what will be infringed upon, because they are not the ones who diverted the fund meant to buy arms to boost security.

    “Even when the Federal Government has successfully established that the arms fund was diverted, it is shocking to now see the same government, its soldiers, police and non-Muslim citizens portray religious intolerance to the tune of stopping the use of hijab.”

    •The Muslim students sensitising the public during the rally
    •The Muslim students sensitising the public during the rally

    The Muslim students displayed various placards with different inscriptions centered on educating non-Muslims on the use of hijab. They sang Islamic songs as the procession returned to the UNILAG campus.

    In a statement issued by Amirah of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Zaynab AbdulAzeez,   the body said: “Hijab is not a culture. Its connotations are not Arabian, Egyptian, Pakistani, black or white; its usage is to provide a protection and safeguard women.

    “Hijab is not just a piece of cloth; it is a behaviour, manner, morality and it is mostly unimaginable that our government realises that a woman has the right to show what she has, but refuses to admit that she has the right to also cover it.

    “It is appalling that despite the recognition of religious freedom by the Nigeria Constitution and United Nations Charter, Muslims women in hijab are still being harassed in their various places of work, hospital, registration points, schools, streets, bus stops and in commercial vehicles.

    “Without bias, an abuse carried out against anyone’s freedom to practise the tenets of his or her religion is a disrespect and disregard to the Constitution and it constitutes an abuse of human rights.”

    The World Hijab Day is celebrated in more than 116 countries and over one million places across the world. It was initiated by Nazma Khan, a Bangladesh lady in New York in 2013. The day came into being in recognition of millions of Muslim women, who choose to wear the Hijab.

  • Hijab: Muslim women decry harassment, stigmatisation

    Hijab: Muslim women decry harassment, stigmatisation

    Nigeria Muslim women yesterday expressed concerns over the alleged stigmatisation and harassment of women in hijab, the women’s veil, across the country.

    The National Amirah of Al-Mu’minaat Organisation, Hajia Nimatullah Abdullateef, who addressed reporters in Lagos ahead of the World Hijab Day, noted that Muslim women were worried by the way the Army harassed their colleagues within and outside conflict zones because they wore hijab.

    She said hijab is a symbol of the Muslim woman’s faith and adherence to Allah’s injunction.

    According to her, Muslim women remember the harassment, persecution, emotional and psychological anguish women in hijab suffered recently in Nigeria, especially after President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement that the nation might consider a ban on the Islamic dress code, if terrorists continued to use it as a cover to bomb innocent people.

    Hajia Abdullateef decried the attempt by authorities of the Nigeria Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in its Ibadan, Oyo State office, to legislate and limit the hijab standards in Nigeria.

    The amirah (women’s leader) said the soldiers’ attitude remained a festering sore in “our heart, while we note with suppressed anguish the harassment of Muslim women in hijab by officers and men of the Nigerian Army within and without military installations in different cities all over Nigeria”.

    She added: “Other government agencies are trying to rob the Muslim of the hijab as her right to freedom of religious expression, by demanding that she expose her ears during image capturing. These are: the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). We call on the leadership of these agencies to call their men to order.

    “We wish to remind the Nigerian security institutions that Boko Haram is the enemy and not Muslim hijabis (women in hijab). Indeed, Boko Haram has used several ingenious garbs and artefacts to camouflage its members and carry out its dastardly and evil attacks, including fruits, vegetables, motor vehicles and even fake army and police uniforms…”

     

  • At Family Day, Muslim women condemn insecurity

    It was time to celebrate the family when the women wing of Ansar-Ud-Deen Islamic Society of Nigeria, Lagos Council came together to mark its annual Family Day.  Daniel Adeleye reports

    IT was an atmosphere of love, friendship and celebration, as the women wing of Ansar-Ud-Deen Islamic Society of Nigeria, Lagos Council held its 11th  Family Day.

    The yearly event  took place penultimate Sunday, at the Ansar-Ud-Deen College of Education, in Isolo, Lagos. The women were clad in green and white attires, and came with their families.

    Islamic tunes  rent the air, setting the mood for the day’s activities that included a talk show, fund-raising; schools match past, dance, lecture, and thanksgiving and prize presentation. Pupils of Ansar-Ud-Deen schools also capped the day’s proceeding with a colourful march past to the admiration of all present.

    Chairperson of the association, Alhaja Riskat Olayide Oke, eulogized the women for their inestimable support for the development of the council in Lagos State and Nigeria at large since its inception.

    “I am extremely delighted to welcome you all to this memorable occasion of the 11th Annual Family Day, which brings together all and sundry to rejoice and praise Allah for his endless mercies on us all.”

    “Since inception, women at all levels of the society have acted like Khadijat (Mother of the faithful and wife of the Holy prophet Muhammad’s S.A.W), who supported the Deen (Islam) morally, physically, financially and with all her influence.”

    Oke who is also the Deputy National Chairperson of Women’s Council of the Society, commended the women saying that “Women have contributed in no small measure to the growth of all branches of the society in the Lagos State Council, and Islam in the country.”

    She seized the opportunity of the occasion to condemn the high level of insecurity in the country and lent a word of advice to the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to consider the present situation as “a national embarrassment.”

    “Insecurity in the country has reached a wide and unprecedented dimension; power failure is ever so frequent and has badly affected the economy; unemployment rates are alarming; and many social ills prevail, to the extent that one perceives that youngsters no longer hold noble values dear, while older ones no longer find room in daily life for the good values they grew up knowing.”

    Against this backdrop, she appealed to the new government to fulfill its electoral promises so that the country can become a better place for all.

    The women leader congratulated Miss Aisha Olaitan and Abdul Warith Sadiq, who emerged as the One Day State Chairperson/Chairman respectively, while also giving kudos to the schools that produced them.

    In his own reaction, the chairman of the occasion, Alhaji Abd’ Lateef Ekundayo lauded the gesture of the women council in a time when some house wives are taking back seat and leaving family responsibilities solely in the hands of their husbands.

    “We thank God that at this time when a lot of women are withdrawing to the back seats, and hardly caring about the future of their children, our own women are coming together like this once in a year to deliberate on how to maintain good families and happy homes.”

    Ekudayo likened the women’s gesture to the wise saying that ‘a family that prays together wins together.’ He also scored them high on the innovation of introducing the concept of One Day State Chairman/Chairperson among pupils of Ansar-Ud-Deen Private Nursery/Primary Schools, saying it is one sure way of preparing the youth for future leadership.

    On the current government’s fight against the insurgent boko haram sect in the North-East of the country, the Muslim Cleric said, “I believe that some evil perpetrators are hiding under the shadows of religion to unleash terror on Nigerians because Islam is about teaching peace.”

    He said “Boko Haram is only trying to set Christians against Muslims and this was why they started first with bombing of churches, and when they realised that the approach did not work, they started bombing mosques as well.

    “Muslims and Christians have been co-habiting for a very long time. How can someone like me who have Christians in my family wake up one day and start killing them simply because they are not my religious faithful?” He asked.

    Ekundayo also advised the government of President Buhari to shun any dialogue with the faceless characters and stamp out the insurgents with  military might.

    Speaking separately, the Secretary Ansar-Ud-Deen Islamic Council of Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter, Alhaji Daud Soile and Chairperson 2015 Family Day Planning Committee, Alhaja Memunat Sanni frowned against attaching Boko Haram to Islam and called on the present administration to do everything within its capacity to tackle the sects’ activities.

    The annual Family Day of the women’s council is organised after the month of Ramadan every year to thank almighty Allah for sparing their lives to see a new Islamic month.

  • Port Harcourt Muslim women need cash

    The President of Rivers State chapter of Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN) Hajia Menunat  Bello, has called on well -meaning Nigerians to assist in completing the uncompleted projects started by the organisation.

    Mrs. Bello said FOMWAN is a non –governmental organisation affiliated to Muslim Women Association of Nigeria and thousand of groups whose objectives are to assist peace building and development in Nigeria.

    She noted that in an effort to contribute to the society, the organisation started health and education projects which are now dilapidated due to lack of fund, adding that if those projects are completed it would assist the indigent of the society.

    Speaking yesterday in Port Harcourt in an event to mark 2015 FOMWAN week, with the theme: Service to humanity, Mrs. Bello said, FOMWAN is an organisation that had rendered so many services to indigent Nigerians.

    She said because the organisation encourages members to contribute to their immediate environment, Muslim women in the Niger Delta, especially members of their group must have no excuse in making their contribution for the benefit of all.

    He also advised Muslim women to always abide with the true teaching of Islam in the Quran and Sauna and to encourage other Muslim who are not member of the organisation to live in the accordance with the teaching as to help one another .

    “This year’s FOMWAN week centered on service to humanity and I’’ m glad to inform you that we have done greatly as an organisation in this regard. We have commenced programmes in the key sector such as health, education and other projects under our care.

    “We are using this opportunity to call for assistance from organisations and individuals to enable us complete some of the projects that are capital intensive. We also have dilapidated building which urgently needs renovation, the school premises need to be interlocked.

    “We also have a library that need additional material and computer system, my responsibly as the leader of this organisation is to ensure that we  take the organisation to a greater height and to address some challenges facing the less-privilege in our society. “