TEXT OF PRESS CONFERENCE ON FALSE CLAIMS BY CHRISTIAN LEADERS

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

(Motto: Dialogue, Not Violence)

Address: No. 5, Oba Ayoka Street, Off LASU-Igando Road, Off Iba Junction, near Iba LG Office, Iba, Lagos State.?????Tel. 08033464974, 09074524976

Email: [email protected]?????Website: www.muricnigeria.com

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PRESS CONFERENCE ON FALSE CLAIMS BY CHRISTIAN LEADERS THAT IT IS ONLY CHRISTIANS THAT ARE BEING KILLED IN NIGERIA ORGANISED BY THE MUSLIM RIGHTS CONCERN (MURIC), HELD AT MURIC HEADQUARTERS, IBA, LAGOS STATE ON THURSDAY, 4TH AUGUST, 2022?

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Distinguished Leaders of Islamic organisations,

Brothers and Sisters in Islam,

Members of MURIC here present …Greatest Muricians!

Gentlemen of the Press

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As-Salaam Alaykunm wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu

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It gives me immense pleasure to rub minds with you on false claims emanating from Christian leaders in Nigeria that Christians are the only ones being killed in this country. They exposed their bad intention towards their Muslim neighbours when they did not stop at lying within the boarders of Nigeria but went as far as the United States of America to pour venom on their compatriots and demarket their own country in a most unpatriotic and uncharitable manner.

Misled by the false stories, five American senators recently asked the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to re-label Nigeria as a country of particular concern (CPC). Earlier in 2020, the US had listed Nigeria among countries blacklisted for “violating religious freedom” under the CPC designation. Nigeria was, however, removed from the list in November 2021.

It is noteworthy that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) rejected this delisting. It demanded that Nigeria should be relisted as one of the countries violating religious freedom. CAN continued to pursue this ignoble agenda from November 2021 by lobbying powerful US politicians until five US senators swallowed its bait, hook, line and sinker.

As a result of this, the five US senators, namely, Josh Hawley, Marco Rubio, Mike Braun, James Inhofe and Tom Cotton addressed a letter to the US Secretary of State dated June 29, 2022 alleging that “Mere expression of one’s Christian faith has become tantamount to a death sentence in many parts of Nigeria”.

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They added that more than 4,650 Nigerian Christians were killed for their faiths in 2021, that Nigeria has for the second consecutive year been the deadliest country on earth for Christians, that the Nigerian government is failing to protect the religious freedom and safety of its Christian citizens and that Nigerian government directly participated in the persecution of Christians through blasphemy laws.

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We are asking where this statistics came from. We are asking who counted the 4,650 dead bodies, where, when and how? While it is true that Nigeria has had serious security challenges in the past two years (2021 and 2022), it has been tough for all citizens. Muslims, Christians and animists have faced daunting security challenges but it is the Muslims in the North who have been killed the most and kidnapped in their hundreds.

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To claim that the Nigerian Government is failing to protect the religious freedom of its Christian citizens is a shameless attempt to upturn the facts of history. Millions of Muslims live under duress, intimidation and harassment in Southern Nigeria where Christian governors and government officials openly dehumanize Muslims and deprive them of their Allah-given fundamental human rights.

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Female Muslim students are locked out of schools merely for manifesting their Islamic faith by using hijab. Eminently qualified Muslims are denied employment unless they converted to Christianity. Political appointments are anathema for Muslims in Southern Nigeria under Christian governors.

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It must be noted that only one state has a Muslim governor out of the seventeen states in Southern Nigeria and Muslims live under religious apartheid in all the sixteen states controlled by Christians. So which government are the US senators referring to as violators of religious freedom? We assume that a critical, holistic and comprehensive assessment will be objective here. Selective appraisal will do justice and fairness no good.

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Those who speak of blasphemy laws also need to contextualise their assertion. Which blasphemy law and which government? Federal or state? Just like in the US, Nigerian states have their own legal peculiarities based on the heterogeneity of our polity. It will be unfair and even na?ve of the US senators to judge the Federal Government of Nigeria by the actions or legislations of any of its states. Yet Christian leaders who take such reports to US politicians know the truth of the matter. They are just being deliberately malicious by not putting information in its proper perspective. ?

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MURIC frowns at the lopsided composition of Nigerians invited to the 2nd Annual International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit in Washington DC on June 28-30, 2022. Information available to us reveals that only the Sultan of Sokoto was officially invited and he was represented by Professor Usman Yusuf.

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On the Christian side and from Nigeria alone, at the event were the immediate past President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Samson Olasupo Adeniyi Ayokunle, Bishop Sunday Onuoha, Methodist Bishop and co-chair of Inter-faith Dialogue Forum, Ms. Anne Marie Briggs, John Joseph Hayab, Kaduna State Chairman Christian Association of Nigeria and Ms. Sarafina N'kenta. The delegation was heavily skewed in favour of Nigerian Christians.

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Expectedly, Muslim-bashing reigned supreme at the event. Nigerian Christians hammered on “terrorist Fulanis and Kanuris” who are systematically targeting and killing Nigerian Christians and armed Muslim militia who are deliberately targeting Christians and Churches with full complicity of the government.

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Yet they knew in their hearts that most of the victims of terrorist attacks are Muslims and that the number of mosques destroyed by the terrorists is higher than that of churches. Boko Haram in particular has killed, maimed and displaced more Muslims than Christians, more Muslim clerics and more Muslim traditional rulers have been killed or kidnapped than Christians.?

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Most importantly, more Muslim majority states are under siege by these terrorists than Christian majority states while more Nigerian Muslims have been impoverished by insecurity than Christians. Insecurity in Nigeria has had greater impact on Muslims more than Christians but our Christian neighbours are standing history on its head.

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ATTACKS ON MUSLIMS AND THEIR MOSQUES BY TERRORISTS:

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Attacks directed at Muslims and their mosques by Boko Haram and other terrorists are too many to recount. But permit us to mention just a few, with references for the purpose of credibility:

1.???Kano Central Mosque was bombed by Boko Haram on 28th November, 2014. The attack claimed the lives of more than 200 Muslims with more than 160 wounded. The attack occurred (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/11/bomb-blasts-kill-200-kano-central-mosque/; https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-3026686;).

2.???86 Muslims were killed when Boko Haram insurgents bombed a mosque at Mubi, Adamawa State on 1st May, 2018 (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/5/2/nigeria-mosque-attack-death-toll-rises-to-86 ).

3.???75 elderly Muslims were killed by Boko Haram in Gworza on January 31, 2016 (https://www.dailysabah.com/world/africa/75-elders-killed-in-boko-haram-attack-in-northeastern-nigeria).

4.???A fully loaded bus was ambushed by bandits in Sokoto, the bus was set on fire and all the 42 Muslim passengers were burnt to death (https://www.capitalpost.ng/2021/12/bandits-set-bus-loaded-with-passengers-on-fire-in-sokoto-42-feared-dead/).

5.???On 30th January 2016, at least 85 Muslims lost their lives in Dalori, on the outskirts of Maiduguri when Boko Haram attacked the city (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Dalori_attack).

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HOW CHRISTIANS HAVE BEEN KILLING MUSLIMS IN NIGERIA :

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Nigerian Christians have launched premeditated and well-coordinated attacks on Muslims on several occasions. We will mention a few of such incidents of cold-blooded killing:

1.???More than 200 Muslims were mercilessly massacred and their dead bodies eaten up in a cannibal feast in Jos, Plateau State on Monday, 29th August, 2011 (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-violence-jos idUSTRE77S6Q520110829; https://www.nairaland.com/863573/cannibalization-muslims-jos-video-where; https://pmnewsnigeria.com/2011/09/14/jos-christians-are-to-blame-for-the-killings/)

2.???Five buses loaded with Muslims returning to Ondo State were blockaded at Rukuba, Jos in Plateau State by the notorious Irigwe Christian militia group resulting in the killing of 22 innocent Muslims while 16 were seriously wounded (https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/479206-how-22-travellers-were-killed-in-plateau-police.html; https://dailypost.ng/2021/08/15/islamic-group-accuses-christian-militia-of-carrying-out-plateau-killings-slams-lalong/).

3.???Christian Jarawas and Sayawas killed more than 400 Hausa-Fulani Muslims in Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi State, between June and July, 2001. About 22,000 Muslims were displaced and till today, the Christians of Tafawa Balewa have not allowed a single Muslim to enter the city (https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigeria-renewed-christian-muslim-clashes-claim-lives)

4.???Many Fulani herders have been beheaded in South Eastern Nigeria. Their cattle are often killed, their huts burnt while they are usually chased out of the south east just because they are Muslims (https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2022/05/10/attacks-on-herders-in-south-east-threat-to-2023-elections-miyetti-allah-warns/ ; https://punchng.com/govt-should-deal-with-terrorists-killing-fulani-herders-in-south-east-miyetti-allah/)

5.???Suya sellers who are traditionally Hausa people are killed in barbaric manner in the same South East because they are Muslims and Northerners (https://punchng.com/killing-of-seven-suya-sellers-in-imo-attempt-to-provoke-ethnic-clashes-hausa-community-leader/ ; https://nationaldailyng.com/gunmen-open-fire-on-igbo-hausa-suya-sellers-kill-3/; https://www.nairaland.com/7139829/unknown-gunmen-machetes-suya-seller ; https://neptuneprime.com.ng/2022/05/23/suspected-esn-ipob-gunmen-kill-suya-seller-in-anambra-offer-free-suya-to-villagers/ ;

6.???Yet the most barbaric was the killing of an 8-month pregnant woman, Harirah Jubril, a Muslim Fulani woman from Adamawa state who was brutally gunned down with her four hijab-wearing female children by the Igbo separatist armed group, the Eastern Security Network (ESN) while waiting for a bus in Isulo Orumba North Local Government Area, Anambra State (https://saharareporters.com/2022/05/25/pregnant-woman-harira-four-children-murdered-gunmen-buried-anambra ).

7.???An army general, Idris Alkali was killed in Jos, Plateau State on 3rd September, 2018 because he was a Muslim. His body was dumped inside a deep well in Plateau State. Several vehicles which laid beneath the pond in which his car was found led observers to conclude that hundreds of Muslims killed at blockades in Jos had been made to disappear in the same manner (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/10/breaking-army-discovers-body-of-missing-general-alkali/ ).

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DISPLAY OF IMPUNITY BY CHRISTIAN RULERS AND AUTHORITIES:

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Nothing encourages lawlessness, recklessness and criminality like impunity. Christian governors and Christian authorities have manifested impunity in Nigeria with reckless abandon. A few examples will suffice:

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1.???Contrary to Section 10 of the Nigerian Constitution, a Governor from the South South, Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, declared his state a Christian state and demolished mosques (https://punchng.com/rivers-is-a-christian-state-wike-insists/ ; https://www.thecable.ng/video-wike-lied-he-demolished-my-mosque-says-asari).

2.???Joshua Dariye as governor of Plateau State declared in January 2002 that he was determined to make the state the centre and pillar of Christianity in Nigeria, contrary to extant laws (https://allafrica.com/stories/200201210086.html ).

3.???Female Muslim students are robbed of their religious identity as they are forced to wear Christian school uniforms after being disallowed from wearing hijab in schools in Southern Nigeria, including the South West where Muslims are a majority ruled by an elitist Christian minority (https://guardian.ng/features/nigerian-schools-in-the-throes-of-hijab-crisis/ ; https://saharareporters.com/2022/02/05/we-will-not-allow-hijab-mission-schools-kwara-christian-association-insists; https://dailypost.ng/2018/11/15/breaking-hijab-wearing-female-students-bar-ui-school-photos/https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/appeal-court-lifts-ban-hijab-lagos-public-schools/ ; https://guardian.ng/news/supreme-court-approves-wearing-of-hijab-in-lagos-schools/).

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NIGERIAN CHRISTIAN LEADERS ARE MERCHANTS OF LIES, DECEIT AND FALSEHOOD:

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We assert clearly and unequivocally that Christian leaders are adept at misleading their followers and leaders of Western countries with lies, deception and falsehood. We have enough antecedents to prove this assertion.

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In the first instance, Pastor Olatoke of Baptist Church, Ikonifin, Osun State instructed his followers to disguise as Boko Haram and to invade his own church in an attempt to launch false Boko Haram attack in the State. Muslims living in Osun State would have been accused of staging this false attack if it had succeeded.

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He conspired with three people who disguised like Muslims with turbans which covered half of their faces. They stormed the church during the church service held on Sunday 18th?May, 2014 and threw banga and other fireworks which sounded like gunfire thus scaring all the worshippers who thought they were real Boko Haram insurgents. The worshippers took to their heels, running helter skelter to save their lives. Many of them were injured. The pretenders then jumped on their getaway motorcycles and sped off into the dark night.

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Unfortunately for them the ‘attackers’ were stopped at a roadblock mounted by vigilant youths of the community who heard the explosions. That was when they confessed that they were recruited by their pastor to stage the ‘drama’. The case was reported at Bode Osi Police Station, near Iwo.

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It is noteworthy that the pastor in question, Pastor Olatoke, was also the chairman of CAN in Ola Oluwa Local Government. His comrades in deception were three members of his church, namely, Emmanuel Atanda, Peter Oyedepo and Ogunniyi Babatope. Christian leaders are pathological fabricators of mirages.

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This story is instructive as it reveals the way Christians launch false attacks with the aim of blaming Muslims for them. So how can anyone, least of all the greatest democracy in the world, believe stories peddled by such pretenders? (https://dailytrust.com/story-of-osun-pastor-who-impersonated-boko-haram ; https://www.informationng.com/2014/05/islamic-group-reacts-to-fake-boko-haram-attack-in-osun.html )

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In the second example, the same leader of Christian groups in Northern Nigeria who was part of the Christian delegation to the 2nd Annual International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit in Washington DC on June 28-30, 2022, specifically Rev. Joseph John Hayab, was the one who tried to deceive Nigerians by claiming that a terrorist who attempted to bomb the Living Faith Church on Sunday, 2nd February, 2020, was a Muslim whereas he was a Christian.

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Both the Nigerian Police, the accused himself and the father of the accused later confirmed that the terrorist’s name was Nathaniel Samuel, a confirmed church-goer. This incident is verifiable. MURIC does not fabricate stories. (https://guardian.ng/life/nigerians-react-to-the-news-of-nathaniel-samuels-attempted-suicide bombing/#:~:text=NATHANIEL%20Samuel%2C%20the%20Christian%20young,to%20bomb%20a%20COCIN%20church; https://dailypost.ng/2020/02/04/living-faith-church-bomber-nathaniel-samuel-not-first-christian-terrorist-in-nigeria-buharis-aide-onochie/ ; https://dailytrust.com/kaduna-bomb-scare-nathaniel-samuel-is-a-christian-not-muslim-suspects-father).

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The third example shows how Christians of Plateau State went out of their way to prevent troops of the Nigerian Army from discovering the body of a Muslim army general, Idris Alkali who was murdered by them. The body of the Muslim army general Alkali was dumped inside a deep well in Plateau State but Christian women demonstrated half naked at the site to prevent soldiers from conducting searches. Plateau State government later apologised on behalf of its Christian population. People who can stage such ridiculous hocus pocus cannot be relied upon for sincerity and credibility. Why is the US believing hypocrites? (https://dailypost.ng/2018/09/21/women-protest-nude-attack-army-searching-mysterious-pond-plateau-community-missing-general/ ).

Yet the state governor exposed his complicity in the whole abracadabra when he apologized after the army found the general’s corpse in the same vicinity after the search (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/11/alkalis-death-lalong-begs-army-to-forgive-plateau-people/?utm_source=headtopics&utm_medium=news&utm_campaign=2018-11-05; https://www.herald.ng/muric-flays-gov-lalong-for-begging-the-army/ ; ).

Lalong as a Christian governor was simply fulfilling his predecessor’s pledge. It will be recalled that the former governor of the state, Joshua Dariye, had pledged publicly that he would make Plateau ‘the centre and pillar’ of Christianity in Nigeria (https://allafrica.com/stories/200201210086.html ). Such declarations had been interpreted by Christians in the state to mean that Muslims had become legitimate targets for cannibalism, emboldened attacks on innocent Muslims and turned the Middle Belt region into an extended graveyard for Muslim personalities. ?

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The fourth example of deceptions by Christian leaders is very fresh as it occurred barely two weeks ago. Bishops who attended the unveiling of the vice-presidential candidate of a Nigerian political party were labelled ‘fake, carpenters and artisans’ by Christian leaders simply because leaders of CAN had opposed a Muslim-Muslim ticket and instructed its followers to distance themselves from the party and its activities.

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However, investigations proved that the bishops and pastors who attended the event were genuine Christian clerics. They came out a few days later and addressed the press, daring CAN leaders to challenge them. This proves beyond any scintilla of ??doubt that Nigeria’s Christian leaders are a bunch of liars and interlopers. Why must any religious leader lead his followers with lies? ?(https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/07/alleged-fake-bishops-at-shettimas-unveiling-kick-present-proofs-of-ordination/).

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The whipping up of anti-Muslim emotions gave rise to the demonisation of the Muslim faith as well as the mythical Islamisation and Fulanisation claims. Another fallout of this mirage is the emergence of the phenomenon of Southern Christians disguising as Hausa-Fulani while committing crime, thus making it impossible to believe every allegation of criminal behaviour levelled at Fulani and Hausa people.

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This development led to the fifth example of areas of Christian deception. Three Christians from Southern Kaduna disguised as Fulani herdsmen to cause mayhem which they intend to hang on the necks of Muslims later. ?(https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/11/suspected-robber-who-disguises-as-herdsman-arrested-in-ogun/ ; https://www.thecable.ng/police-ekiti-resident-who-impersonates-herdsmen-arrested-for-kidnapping ; https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/04/police-edo-arrest-28-suspected-kidnappers-robber-cultists/ ).

Yet there is a sixth dimension to this Jekyll and Hyde Christian modus operandi. Muslim children are being kidnapped particularly from the North and taken either to the South East or to the Middle Belt in acts of desperation aimed at conversion of underaged Muslim children to Christianity (https://dailytrust.com/amp/kano-parents-demand-release-of-47-additional-abducted-kids ; https://kanofocus.com/2019/10/18/converting-kano-children-to-christians-meant-to-obliterate-their-lineage-jni/ ; https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/nwest/436088-just-in-seven-kidnapped-children-from-kano-found-in-anambra-enugu-official.html ; https://muslimnews.com.ng/2022/07/02/shocking-days-after-21-quranic-students-freed-from-ecwa-church-police-rescue-50-children-from-church-cell-in-ondo/ ). We leave the American public to decide whether it is ethical to abduct little children from other religions for forceful conversion to Christianity.

“Whereas Paul says, ‘Do not lie to one another’ (Colossians 3:9-10). Christian leaders find it expedient to pour torrents of lies on their followers. CAN leaders wilfully ignore the warning in Proverbs, ‘…He who breathes out lies will perish’ (Proverbs 19:9). CAN leaders are not walking their talk. Neither are they following the teachings of the Bible.

NIGERIAN MUSLIMS CONDEMN TERRORISM:

Nigerian Muslims do not support criminal groups. They do not represent us. We reject them. True Muslims respect humanity. We are prepared to peacefully coexist with our Christian neighbours and we have done so for decades before the marauding Boko Haram gangs came barely fifteen years ago. They do not have our consent.

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Neither does the Nigerian government support them and this explains why they have been outlawed and declared terrorists. In fact, the latest attack by ISWAP on the convoy of President Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim president, speaks volumes on the intentions of ISWAP and Boko Haram as well as the non-complicity of President Buhari (https://guardian.ng/news/buharis-advance-convoy-attacked-in-katsina/).

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Nigerian Muslims do not support terrorists. They do not have our consent. Therefore no act of terror committed by them should be attributed to Muslims. Also, against the background that Muslims constitute majority of the victims of terrorism, it will be unfair to blame the same Muslim victims for the atrocities of terrorists. It stands in contradistinction to the laws of natural justice.

But should a country as advanced and as civilised as the US allow itself to be led by the nose by such people? That is the question. Whether the US and other Western countries should jettison objectivity and allow sentiments and lies to take the driving seat in the process of their decision making is left to be decided only by the West itself.

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We strongly suspect that Republican insurrectionists were behind the memorandum of US Senators. Unfortunately that memo is a plethora of lies from the pit of Jahannam itself. We know Americans are champions of democracy and lovers of freedom. Therefore, they will not allow themselves to be deceived by anti-Islam Republicans and enemies of democracy who had demonstrated their stock in trade by starting their administration with banning citizens of Muslim countries from travelling to America.

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The US should not encourage Nigerian Christians who are entangled in a cobweb of entitlement syndrome. Christian leaders are taking advantage of the precarious security situation in Nigeria which has been compounded by the Libya factor.

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CROWD TARGET MENTALITY OF BANDITS:

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Attacks on churches and mosques as well as schools, buses and trains explains the ‘crowd mentality’ of Nigerian terrorists’. They are attacking such places not for religious reasons but in order to kidnap as many people as possible for ransom. They are targeting places where people assemble in large number. When bandits stop a train or a vehicle, or when they enter a village, they don’t ask about anyone’s religion. They just pack as many people as they can conveniently take away.

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Terrorists are like pandemics. They seek the largest concentration of targets. The more the number of captives the higher the ransom. It is for pecuniary benefits. Terrorists do not discriminate between Christians and Muslims or between churches and mosques.

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Perhaps it will be easier to understand the reason behind their quest for money at all cost if people can remember where they are coming from. The Libyan factor readily comes to mind. Many of the commanders of ISWAP and Boko Haram had served as mercenaries in Libya and the collapse of the Ghadafi regime without an alternative arrangement in place ignited a southward drift to West African countries. It also caused a proliferation of dangerous weapons south of the Sahara.

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DATA ON KILLING OF MUSLIMS BY TERRORISTS:

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We challenge the data where the US senators claimed that 4,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria as at 2021 while ignoring more than 40,000 Muslims who had been killed at the same period. Christian leaders are simply capitalising on the enormity of the security challenge facing Nigeria.

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But the fact remains that 90% of the victims of Boko Haram and ISWAP are Muslims and the operations of these terrorist groups are mainly restricted to the North where Muslims are the majority. Therefore, Muslims constitute majority of the victims of violence in Nigeria. No data can dispute that even if it is from a satellite operating on Jupiter.

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The reason killing of Christians appear more pronounced is due to difference in burial culture. Nigerian Christians display bodies of their victims and may even delay their burial for days, if not months while Muslims bury their victims almost immediately without any fuss. It is photo trick and camera magic that egg on emotions. ?

According to the AlJazira network news, we can confirm that more than 20,000 people have been killed in the Boko Haram insurgency that began in 2009, which has also forced some two million to flee their homes (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/5/2/nigeria-mosque-attack-death-toll-rises-to-86). Relief workers who visit camps of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) can confirm that 95% of IDPs are Muslims.

1,854 Muslims were killed in Plateau State between 1994 and 2011 (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/12/a-cycle-of-reprisals-turns-jos-into-killing-field/; Amnesty International, “More than 1,500 Killed in Armed Conflict in North-Eastern Nigeria in Early 2014,” March 2014, https://www.amnesty.org.uk/sites/default/files/nigeria__more_than_1500_killed_in_armed_conflict_0.pdf. 9)

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Boko Haram killed thirty seven thousand, five hundred (37,500) persons from 2015 to 2018. Of this figure, thirty two thousand (32,000) were ?Muslims while five thousand, five hundred (5,500) were Christians. This means that 85% of those killed were Muslims. Mosques have been bombed or burned. Imams, Shaykhs and emirs have been abducted and killed. But CAN still wants to deceive the world by claiming that it is Christians alone who are being killed in Nigeria. CAN has lost all credibility.

Boko Haram killed the Emir of Gwoza, Alhaji Idrissa Timta on 30th May, 2014 (https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/161743-boko-haram-killed-emir-gwoza-borno-government.html ; https://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/05/boko-haram-attacks-three-emirs-kills-one/). Boko Haram terrorists claimed responsibility for the killing of the popular Shaykh Muhammad Auwal Adam ‘Albani’ of Zaria, head of the Salafists along with his wife and 18-year-old son on 3rd February, 2014 (https://www.blueprint.ng/how-we-killed-albani-suspects/; Salisu Bala, “Salafi Targets for ‘Boko Haram’: The Murder of Shaykh Muhammad Auwal Adam ‘Albani’ Zaria,” Annual Review of Islam in Africa 12/1 (2013–2014) pages 31–38).

In 2013, Boko Haram attempted to kill both Emir Ado Bayero and Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/01/4-killed-as-gunmen-attack-emir-of-kano/; See also Will Ross, “Nigeria: Kano Reels after Emir Attack,” BBC News, February 7, 2013). The same Boko Haram insurgents made an attempt on the life of the Shehu of Borno on 13th July, 2013 (https://www.thisdaylive.com/ articles/shehu-of-borno-dep-gov-escape-death-in-suicide-bomb-blast/119979/57). Boko Haram also killed a notable Islamic cleric, Shaykh Adamu Misira along with scores of his followers at Nafada, Gombe State, on 5th November, 2014?(“Boko Haram Kills Scores, Islamic Cleric in Nafada,” The Sun, November 5, 2014, https://sunnewsonline.com/new/bokoharam-kills-scores-islamic-cleric-in-nafada/).

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Is any of the above prominent personalities a Christian? Terrorists are killing emirs, Shaykhs and Islamic clerics. But CAN is telling the world that terrorists are killing Christians only. Terrorists are destroying mosques and killing the Muslim worshippers inside in their hundreds. Yet Nigerian Christian leaders say only churches are being attacked. It is absolutely absurd and incomprehensible.

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We urge Nigerian Christians to disregard CAN’s false allegation and incitement. It has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that CAN is a lying cartel. If CAN has lied more than once, it can lie again. Interestingly there is evidence that CAN has lied seven times and here is the list of CAN’s can of worms: (1) Osun fake Boko Haram attack orchestrated by CAN chairman in Ola Oluwa Local Government, Osun State; (2) Plateau CAN chapter tried to use women demonstrating half naked to deceive soldiers searching for the body of General Alkali; (3) three Christians from Southern Kaduna disguised as Fulani herdsmen to cause mayhem; (4) CAN said the terrorist who tried to bomb COCIN church was a Muslim but the terrorist turned out to be a Christian and member of the church; (5) Muslim kids are kidnapped to Christian territories for secret conversion; (6) CAN said bishops who attended the unveiling of Shettima are fake but it was later proved that they were real and (7) their claim that it is only Christians that bandits are kidnapping and terrorists are killing is the seventh lie. CAN has lied seven times!

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It was Stephen King who said, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me a third time, shame on both of us.” Neither Nigerian Christians nor US leaders should allow Nigeria’s deceitful religious leaders to hoodwink them anymore. The Americans in particular should remember the words on marble from Abraham Lincoln, “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”

Those who have lied to us, not once, not twice, not even three times but SEVEN times are not worthy of our attention. The intention of those false allegations is to incite Nigerians particularly the Christians among us against a Muslim leader and eventually to cause religious war in Nigeria. Let us remember that no African country will contain us if we destroy our country. Remember the humongous humanitarian crisis which included hunger, starvation and widespread disease caused by the wars in Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Sudan, Eritrea, etc. The main enemies of Nigerians are those who travel to Western countries to spread false and malicious information.

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There is no iota of doubt that there are good Christians in Nigeria. We call on the good ones to stop this charade by their leaders. We can live together in love and harmony. We love our Christian neighbours. We as Muslims are committed to peaceful coexistence but on the basis of equality and fairness, without intimidation or harassment and definitely without blackmail. We cherish human dignity and we have respect for human life. Our advice to the new president of CAN is to tow the path of truth and patriotism for the sake of the survival of our dear country, Nigeria.

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Long Live Nigeria.

God Bless Nigeria. God Bless America.

Greatest Muricians! Greatest Muricians! Greatest of the Greatest of the Greaaaaaaaaat!!!

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Gentlemen of the press, thank you for your time.

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Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern,

(MURIC)