Polluted cyberspace fuelling insecurity, religious crises, says Shariah judge

A Kadi at Shariah Court of Appeal, Kwara State, Abdur Raheem Ahmad Sayi, has attributed rising insecurity and religious crises in Nigeria to citizens’ access to misguided information on cyberspace.

To this end, Sayi challenged the Federal Government to regulate access to the “polluted cyberspace”, and purge the internet of such misinformation, particularly those capable of fueling security and religious crises in the country.

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The Islamic scholar made this call in his lecture at the 2021 Special Ramadan Iftar programme, organised by the Ogun State government, held at the Arcade Ground of the Governor’s Office, Oke Mosan, Abeokuta.

The programme was titled “Threats to National Security and Unity: Religion as a Panacea or Problem”.

According to him, access by Nigerians, especially the youth, to the loads of “misinformation” on the cyber space has contributed immensely to the present security challenges in the country

He warned that failure by the government to tackle the challenges might spell doom for the unity of Nigeria.

The Kadi believes the internet could be educative, entertaining and informative, but said “promoters of hate and disunity in the country had used it to spread messages of discord and fake news among Nigerians, hence government must find ways to curb the menace before it is too late.”

“What Nigeria is currently witnessing in terms of insecurity will be a negligible fraction of chaos that will come,” he warned.

The judge, however, urged leaders of Islam and Christianity in the country to desist from preaching about prosperity alone, but inculcate the core values, tenets and teachings of love and unity of mankind, in the minds of their adherents.

In his address, the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, said the special Ramadan Iftar programme was a symbolic one being the very first to be hosted by his administration after COVID-19 pandemic prevented the state to organise it last year.

He noted that the programme was in appreciation of the fervent prayers, solidarity and support his government has enjoyed from the Muslim community in the last two years.

He further noted that “leaders and followers; government and people, have the responsibility towards the security and unity of our nation. Otherwise, our actions and inactions without responsibility towards one another become threat to national security and unity”.

Highlighting steps taken by his administration to restructure and reinvigorate security mechanism in Ogun, Abiodun said that the Security Trust Fund was reconfigured and made it private sector-led, adding “we made huge investments in patrol vehicles and communication equipment for our security agencies in the state and initiated regular meetings of the State Security Council that had been in limbo before the inception of our administration”.