Lagos set to move against hate preaching

The Lagos State government yesterday disclosed its intention to clampdown on hate preaching by religious leaders, noting that it would not condone religious intolerance.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode made the disclosure during a meeting with members of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) at the State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja.
The governor said from next year, the state government would begin inter-face religious conferences where all the religious bodies in the state would participate in seminars to be coordinated by the NIREC.
Represented at the meeting by the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Dr. Abdulhakeem Abdullateef, Ambode said government would not hesitate to stop any religious leader that preaches hate messages which are capable of causing acrimony among the people.
“Henceforth, we’ll start to monitor mosques and churches and ensure that clerics don’t engage in hate preaching,” he said.
He added that the government had started the enumeration of mosques and churches in the state with identification of religious houses. “If a mosque or church is not captured in our list, it means such is not recognised by the government. We would give every one of them an identification number,” he said.