By Umar Bayo Abdulwahab
Ilorin
Kwara state Muslim stakeholders and Imams, yesterday, urged Nigerians to shun hate speeches campaigns against certain t candidates and vote according to their conscience.
Addressing a press conference on recent unguarded utterances of some Christian clerics on Muslims and Islam, Chairman of the group and pioneer Grand Khadi of the state Sharia Court of Appeal, Justice Abdulkadir Orire, said that Islam “is a religion of peace which represents peace in its entirety.”
The press conference was in response to the recent preaching by Pastor Bosun Emmanuel of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and that of the founder of Winners’ Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo which have gone viral on the internet.
According to the group, Pastor Bosun in his preaching made uncomplimentary remarks about Islam and Muslims. These remarks, he stated, include among others, that the Boko Haram insurgency is an attempt to Islamise Nigeria; that the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) is a Nigerian version of Islamic Brotherhood of Egypt and that Muslims are killing Christians indiscriminately and destroying churches.
He said: “We should all realise the fact that the President who told Nigerians that sponsors of Boko Haram had infiltrated his government, had not revealed the sponsors or arrested anyone in his government since 2012.
“However, to put the record straight, out of 55 years of Nigeria’s independence, Christian leaders had ruled for 32 years while Muslim leaders ruled for only 23 years.”
“It must be stated that the action of a few non-Muslims that hide under Islam to commit atrocities cannot be a justification to tag Muslims as terrorists. The Boko Haram insurgency that has ravaged Nigeria has never been seen as an act committed by Muslims. They are rather few unguided criminals who do not and cannot represent Islam because Islam does not only preach peace, it represents peace.
“Therefore, the argument by these Christian clerics that Boko Haram is a war against Christianity holds no water. It is unfounded, misleading, spurious and completely blatant lies aimed at causing disaffection and mutual suspicion among Nigerians.”