In an open letter to the director-general of Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS), a former governorship candidate in Katsina State, Umar Tata, has called for the arrest and prosecution of a Muslim cleric, Nasir Abdurrahman, for alleged incitement that could lead to loss of innocent lives in the country.
Malam Nasir was said to have claimed, during a sermon on Friday, that ailing President Muhammadu Buhari was poisoned by “those close to him” who wanted to steal over N70trillion he had accumulated in the treasury so far.
To inflame passion among fellow Muslims, Nasir allegedly made a reference to some past northern leaders who were “killed” in office, telling the worshippers that “we are not going to accept that”.
In the letter, Umar expressed concern about what might happen “if we allow this lie and hate speech in our mosques to go unchecked”.
His letter to the DSS is reproduced below:
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE DG DIRECTORATE OF STATE SECURITY SERVICES (DSS)
Sir I wish to draw your attention to the new dangerous twist to the unfortunate sickness of President Muhammadu Buhari being falsely perpetrated in our mosques which has the tendency to create serious anarchy in Katsina state.
Today Friday 24 February, 2016 at the Izala mosque, popularly called General Tsiga mosque on Katsina road in Funtua local government, the Imam, during the jumat sermon, apologized to the congregation for coming late.
This, according to him, was because he was just out of a state meeting of the Izala sect in Katsina where they were accordingly informed and directed to inform all Muslims that the sickness of President Buhari was as a result of poisoning. According to the Imam, malam Nasir Abdurrahman, Buhari was poisoned by those close to him because he has amassed over N70 trillion and they want to steal it. To steal it they must kill him and that was why they poisoned him. This to him could be explained better by the sudden stoppage of Kano-Katsina dual carriage way which work stopped since the president became sick.
Malam Nasir continued by asserting that the same way Tafawa Balewa was killed was the same way Murtala Mohammed was killed and is the same way they want to kill President Buhari.
Enough is enough according to him as we are not going to accept that. This is the summary of the message he was directed to convey. I don’t know if it was the same in all other Izala mosques across the state, but even if it was not I am scared of what will happen if we allow this lie and hate speech in our mosques to go unchecked.
Funtua is a hotbed of radicalism and has always been the boiling center of religious crises in the state. In 2011 after the presidential elections that then GMB lost to Jonathan, innocent Christian lives were lost and properties worth hundreds of millions were lost. All because of this kind of misleading sermons by our half-literate imams. I had to confront General Buhari on this and sought for his participation in my effort at compensating the Christians who suffered losses as a result of that post-election uprising. He did not come but we still went ahead to compensate them in our own small way.
Now we are about to tread the same path all over again! If Buhari dies today, may Allah do what is right for him and us, what do you think will happen? Innocent lives will be made sacrificial lambs of this loss more so if we consider the fact that, Prof Osinbajo, a Christian being the VP is the constitutional beneficiary of whatever outcome from this debacle. Are we going to allow this to happen? I think people of conscience owe it a duty not to be silent in the face of this madness. Malam Nasir should tell us who poisoned President Buhari so that the law should take its natural course; if he fails to do that he should be arrested and prosecuted for incitement.
How can somebody who has amassed N70 trillion want to borrow N17 trillion for which the National Assembly is yet to grant him that approval? Who is the fool here? They have lied to us in 2015 telling us that Buhari is superior to God and now that he is discovered to be human they want to make him God all over again! No way!
They have never shown us love, care or concern under this regime for all the hardship wrought on the common man and they now want to lead innocent souls to death and destruction. We will not allow that. We have been misled far too much for far too long and it is time to expose these people for what they are, cheats and liars that think we are dumb.
If you do the right thing to nip this in the bud fine; if you do not, let it be on record that I have reported to you my fears.
Thank you very much!
Umar Tata
Apparently reacting to the spread of hate speeches in the country, the DSS has warned it would go after those who promote hate speeches. See next story: DSS Raids Ex-Gov Suswan’s Property, Recovers Arms and Ammunition
#