The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has urged Nigerian Muslims to use the opportunity of the holy month of Ramadan and the spiritual power which Allah has endowed fasting Muslims to supplicate for the freedom of Christian girls like Leah Sharibu and the Chibok girls who are still held by the Boko Haram insurgents.
The MURIC Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, in a statement Monday also felicitated with the Sultan of Sokoto, leaders of all Islamic organisations in the country and also congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari and all state governors for witnessing the commencement of the month of Ramadan.
“We must admit that the continued stay of Leah Sharibu and the Chibok girls in Boko Haram’s detention camp is a dark spot on Nigeria’s white linen. Whereas the Federal Government, the Muslim Ummah and its leadership desire freedom for those innocent girls, the insurgents are keeping them in captivity in order to achieve their diabolical aims, namely, to embarrass FG, to use them as human shields, to boost their negotiation power and to use them as a tool for setting Nigerian Christians and their Muslim compatriots against each other.
“The overall objective of Boko Haram is to ignite a religious war. That was why they started attacking places of worship. It was when that ploy failed that they resorted to abducting Christian girls with the hope of provoking Christendom. This is why Nigeria’s religious leaders must exercise extra patience.”
”They must not play into the hands of the insurgents. They must refrain from emotional outbursts. Instead, they must sink their differences and come together in the name of humanity to fight the evil in their midst. We reiterate that terrorists have no religion,” Akintola said.
He also called for prayers for peace, security, political stability and economic buoyance for Nigeria.