The umbrella body for Islamic organisations in Northern Nigeria, Jama’atu Ñasril Islam (JNI), has described the twin bomb blasts that killed worshippers during afternoon prayer in Mubi, Adamawa State on Tuesday as a call for concerted action.
It said in a statement issued in Kaduna on Thursday by its Secretary General, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, that the yet another gruesome killings of innocent Muslims pointed out the need for sustained as well as retrospective security vigilance.
JNI spoke just as some angry Muslims chided the Nigerian media for their open conspiracy against Islam and Muslims as, according to them, the media have done so far in the “senseless” killings in parts of the country giving the impression that only Christians are being killed by people the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has invariably misrepresented as killing for Islamisation and Northernisation agenda.
One of the angry Muslims, Abdulmalik presenting two instances of SUN Newspaper’s “hypocritical reportage” of killings in Benue and Adamawa, said it was the stock in trade of the Christian-oriented Nigerian Press to breach with impunity the journalism ethics of fairness and that “they have done so infringing on the fundamental rights of Muslim victims”.
With pictorial evidence, Abdulmalik said, “In Benue church killing, Sun was explosive about its reportage with caption ‘killings in church: 2 clerics killed’ but in Mubi case of more lives losses Sun says ‘twin blasts in Mubi kill 6’ and that was all”, he said.
JNI, which showed no worry about the media’s anti-Islamic conspiracy, said, “The twin blasts which occurred when the Muslim faithful were observing the afternoon prayer in Mubi, Adamawa State on Tuesday 1st May, 2018 is highly devastating and cruel to say the least and therefore strongly condemned. No fewer than 85 lives were reported lost so far and many victims in hospitals with lean or no chance to make it out alive.
“The recent Mubi attack is coming at a time when Nigerians were heaving a sigh of relief as news of suicide attacks are becoming history due to the decapitation of insurgency in the North East, Nigeria. It seems the security outfits in the area and the public have lowered their gourds and relaxed, a situation taken advantage of by the insurgents.
“It is equally not gain saying that Zamfara State is more or less calamitous, with repeated armed banditry attacks, without recourse to human life. In fact, it is becoming normal, as if people have no conscience that on daily basis human lives are massacred in Zamfara State! Yet no significant effort is seen being put to avert the senseless reoccurrences.
“Therefore, there is obviously the need for continued vigilance especially by the members of the public not to allow unscrupulous elements take advantage of their credulity, to wreck havoc in the society. It is also high time that the security agencies should also appraise their mode of operation to meet up with dynamic challenges of criminality, as the criminals continue to change tactics. It is in this light, that we commiserate with the people of Benue, Borno, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Zamfara states over the repeated lost of lives, as a result of coordinated attacks by enemies of peace.
“Government should move in with all seriousness it deserves and take a definite position on criminals in all ramifications, and bring these gory incidences to a final end. The loss of lives as experienced around the country is becoming normalized in the psyche of Nigerians, which in itself is an aberration of doctrinal teachings.
“We call on the public to intensify prayers and continuously say Istigfaar(seeking for forgiveness) for Allah (SWT) to emancipate us from these recurring terrific situations. We should not relent but rather we should intensify good deeds especially that the month of Ramadan is fast approaching.
“However, we make bold to say that often when Muslims are attacked especially in mosques, nothing is heard from those who are supposed to-be-heard, nor commiserate with the Muslims, or the story is downplayed entirely. Must politics be played with the life killed. We nonetheless, pray for the repose of lost lives in all the incidences, and pray for the recovery of the injured victims, the fortitude to bear the loss to those who lost their loved ones and above all restoration of peace in the affected areas and Nigeria in general.”
