The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Muslim

  • Muslim leaders push for peace

    Muslim leaders in Sepeteri, a town in Saki East Local Government Area of Oyo State have called on security agencies to unmask those behind the incessant clash between them and the Christian community in the area.

    Baba Adinni of Sepeteri, Chief Muda Ogunsola made the request during a press briefing held in Ibadan to shed more light on why tension has  persisted  in the area.

    The Muslim and Christian communities in the ancient town of Sepeteri have been fighting each other over a parcel of land, located directly in front of an Islamic college, which a Baptist Church was laying claim to.

    Chief Ogunsola further said that recent investigations by the state police command have absolved the Muslim community of any culpability in the crisis.

    He alleged that a petition by some Christian leaders in the community compounded the problem on ground.

    Ogunsola, who was a former chairman of Saki East Local Government Area said the security agencies in the state should look beyond the land matter and unmask the sponsors of the crisis.

    “The community is already divided and there is tension in the town but we are asking the people to keep calm and maintain peace.

    “We are not and  had never said we are the owners of the land.  The land belongs to the community and the community will decide what to do with it,” Ogunsola stated.

    According to him, the late Obalufon of Sepeteri, Oba Karimu Oyesiji, the regent of the town and some notable high chiefs and community leaders of the town  had been interrogated by the police and had cleared the air on the ownership crisis over the land.

    “The land belongs to the community and the community, through the late Oba and the Agoro said they have not given the land to the Baptist Church.

    “The Agoro was invited by the police at state Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Iyaganku. He told the police that the land has not been given to anybody and he said the community was ready to give land to the church at any place but not that particular spot,” he added.

    Ogunsola alleged that the receipt being flaunted by the church leaders for the acquisition of the disputed land was a forged document.

    According to him, the receipt was issued on the letter head paper of the late Obalufon, who was installed in 1986 for a land the church claimed to have acquired in 1973.

     

    The former council boss said the recent petition to Abuja by the Christian leaders would not solve the problem as Abuja was not the owner of Sepeteri land.

    He traced the persistent crisis on the land to the planned Pacesetter Farm, which was to be sited at the community but which some of the Muslim leaders kicked  against due to alleged insincerity of those behind the project.

    As a way out of the crisis, Ogunsola said the Christian leaders must accept the police report on the matter and leave the land to the community for another location.

     

  • Muslim students tasked on time consciousness

    Muslim students have been advised to manage their time effectively for the attainment of success. This charge was given by the chairman, Conference of Islamic Organisations (CIO), Mallam Abdullahi Shuiab, at a symposium held by Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), University of Lagos (UNILAG) College of Medicine, Idi Araba.

    The annual programme was tagged Islam Propagation Week.

    Shuaib, who spoke on time management, took the students through the importance of managing time and adhering strictly to one’s set goals. Noting that proper time management is pivotal to success in life, he listed responsibility, commitment, confidence, curiosity, optimism, courage, risk-taking, determination and ingenuity as elements of success.

    Shuaib said successful students were blessed with the habit of acting professionally and being friendly with their instructor.

    “For you to manage your time effectively, you need to set goals that are realistic and achievable; break down tasks into steps; prioritise your programme and lastly most important avoid procrastination,” he told the students.

    The Amir of the society, Lagos State Area Unit, Alhaji Qazim Badrudeen, urged the students to be serious with their studies. He said they should aim high and work towards achieving their set goals.

    Badrudeen urged the students to take to what the lecturer has told them and start implementing them in their lives for them to achieve their desired goals.

     

  • Five killed in Taraba religious crisis

    A football pitch argument between two amateur players yesterday sparked an orgy of religious violence in Wukari, Taraba State, leaving at least five people dead.

    Many others were injured and properties estimated at millions of naira destroyed as Christians and Muslims took on one another.

    The Police immediately swung into action to quell the violence and prevent a spill over to the neighbouring states of Benue and Nasarawa.

    It was not immediately clear what the argument between the two footballers was all about during a practice session.

    Eye-witnesses only said one of the players, a Muslim, pulled a gun and shot the other, a Christian.

    Within minutes hell was let loose and the area was engulfed in violence.

    News of the incident soon spread to other parts of the town.

    Zealots on both sides were said to have capitalised on the confusion to perpetrate mayhem.

    An eye-witness said: “The two players disagreed over a football related issue during play. One of them felt too aggrieved. He dashed home and returned with a gun with which he shot the other footballer.”

    Yesterday’s violence came barely three months after a clash between Muslims and Christians in Ibi Local Government Area of the state left over 10 people dead, with churches, mosques, commercial and residential buildings torched.

    Police Spokesman Amos Olaoye confirmed the crisis, saying heavily armed policemen were drafted to the crisis zone to maintain law and order.

  • Islamic groups mourn Adegbite’s death

    Islamic groups mourn Adegbite’s death

    Various Islamic groups on Saturday paid glowing tribute to late Dr AbdulLateef Adegbite, describing his death as a big loss to the Muslim community and the nation.

    Adegbite, who until his death on Friday, was the Secretary-General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) died in Lagos at the age of 79.

    The groups in their various condolence messages described him as an exemplary leader and a lover of peace whose death had created a vacuum in the community.

    The groups include the NSCIA, Nigeria Inter Religious Council, (NIREC), Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, (MSSN), Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria (MMPN)

    Others are Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates Association (UNIFEMGA), Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN), National Council of Nigerian Muslim Organisations in the USA (NCNMO) and the National Council of Muslim Youths Organisations (NACOMYO).

    In his condolence message, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, National Coordinator of NIREC and Adegbite’s deputy at NSCIA, said “ we have lost an illustrious son of Africa’’.

    “As an academician, an erudite scholar and season lawyer, a political figure, a religious leader and founder of many Islamic societies and groups, the religious community has lost a rare gem,’’ Oloyede said.

    In his message, MURIC National Coordinator, Prof Ishaq Akintola said Adegbite lived a life of devotion and piety.

    “He promoted the golden qualities of religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence even at the peak of worst crises and irrational provocation.’’

    Akintola said that Adegbite was a team player who steered the affairs of the Muslim Ummah with dexterity, adding that “Nigeria has lost a gem’’.

    In his tribute, national President of UNIFEMGA, Dr Abdulwahab Egbewole, said the death of Adegbite should be a lesson that “we need to do our best to serve Allah and leave our footprints in all the areas we may find ourselves’’.

    He described the deceased as “a consummate administrator, committed academic, focused religious leader, concerned community leader and a bridge builder’’.

    The MMPN Chairman, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, said the demise of Adegbite was a great loss to the Muslim Ummah.

    He added that the deceased was instrumental to the formation of many professional Islamic organisations in the country with the aim of projecting Islam through their professional callings.

    NACOMYO said the death of Adegbite was a big loss to the Ummah.

    Mas’ud Akintola, NACOMYO Coordinator in Oyo State said Adegbite’s death had created a big vacuum for the Ummah and prayed Allah to grant him Aljannah Firdaus.

    Adegbite was born in Abeokuta, Ogun, on March 20, 1933 and attended Methodist School, Abeokuta and Kings College, Lagos.

    He co-founded and was the first national president of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria.

    Until his death, he was the Secretary General of NSCIA, and a member of Nigeria Inter Religious Council. (NAN)