The Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic
Affairs has warned the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, against
holding talks with the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram, until he
receives an official approval from the Federal Government.
The
apex body of Muslims in the country fears that the Sultan might be
blackmailed by the government if he goes ahead to negotiate with the
terrorist group, especially on the over 200 pupils of Government Girls’
Secondary School abducted by the sect on April 14, without an official
consent.
The council warned that the
Islamic leader should not be hoodwinked into making such moves by those
calling for his intervention in the insurgency by the sect.
Some
Islamic elite, under the aegis of Concerned Muslim Professionals, had
written to the Sultan earlier in July, asking him to lead the dialogue
with the Boko Haram sect.
Similarly,
a human rights activist based in the North and President, Civil Rights
Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Shehu Sani, had earlier in May asked the Sultan
to spearhead the moves to secure the release of the abducted pupils
from the group’s captivity.
Sani, in a
letter to the religious leader, had said, “You (Sultan) have a moral
duty and a spiritual responsibility to be visibly and actively involved
in seeking the resolution of this impasse happening within areas you
have religious influence.”
However, the Secretary-General of the NSCIA, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, while speaking to SUNDAY PUNCH
on Thursday, warned that the President-General of the council should
not be hoodwinked into taking up the task of negotiating with the
terrorists.
He said, “The Muslim
community had always been taking action; it had always been appealing to
the people (Boko Haram) but Muslim leaders are also cautious because in
your process to go out to look for these people; if in the process
you’re caught talking with them, the government can even turn against
you and say you’re part of part of Boko Haram.
“No
matter the level of the Muslim leader, he has to think twice before he
begins to communicate with these people (sect) because the same
government that you want to work for can turn against you and accuse you
of complicity; and you will be on your own.
“They
(government) have enough machinery to present you as a devil such that
members of your family will believe that you’re a devil.”
When
asked if such could be done to the Sultan, the professor insisted that
the Islamic leader could be implicated without the backing of the
government, especially at a time when “many of us are being unduly
monitored.”
He added, “I am not the
Sultan but fortunately the Sultan has dual status; traditionally, he is
the Sultan of Sokoto; religiously, he is the leader of the Muslim
community. I relate with him as far as his mandate as the leader of the
Muslim community is concerned.
“In
that capacity, I will not advise him to hold any unilateral action with
the sect without having the full confidence of the government of the
day. If anybody makes such calls, somebody like the Sultan should think
twice before venturing into searching for people you do not know.”
Oloyede
asked why the Federal Government kept the findings by the Presidential
Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in
the North, which was chaired by the Minister of Special Duties, Taminu
Turaki.
“I believe that by now, as
Muslims leaders, we should have access to the findings; we don’t. We are
just working in darkness. By now, even if the report had not been
released, we should have had access to it. Then, we will be able to have
some clues to what is happening,” the NSCIA scribe stated.
Also,
an Islamic pressure group, Muslims Rights Concern, said it was the
responsibility of the Federal Government, and not the Sultan, to seek an
end to the insurgency by the group.
The Founder, MURIC, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, told SUNDAY PUNCH
in an interview on Friday that the Sultan had spoken out against the
activities of the sect on several occasions, “what else do they want him
to do?”
He said, “I stand by the
decision of the Supreme Council; it is a very correct position. The
Sultan cannot negotiate, particularly without the Federal Government’s
green light. We don’t support the idea of the Sultan negotiating because
he would be seen as somebody who has vested interests. Why can’t the
Federal Government take that up?”
The
Professor of Islamic Eschatology stated that there was no reason for the
Muslim community to rise up to the challenge separately, as it would be
“tantamount to sedition, separatism and rising when the Federal
Government should rise.”
Efforts to
get the Presidency for comments on Friday and Saturday proved abortive.
Calls made to the mobile phones of the Senior Special Assistant to the
President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, and the Special Adviser to
the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, respectively,
were not picked.
Also, they did not reply to text messages sent to them.
In
the letter to the Sultan, the President, Concerned Muslim
Professionals, Alhaji Mohammed Saidu, said, “A failure on the part of
the Muslim leadership (under His Eminence the Sultan) to discharge these
responsibilities/actions to the later will render it of questionable
ability, doubtful recognition, decimal loyalty or an outright dismissal
as a mere smoke-screen. As obedient and loyalists to His Eminence the
Sultan, our hearts bleed on these realities.”
Sani, in an exclusive interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, had stated that the sect would prefer Islamic clerics as its negotiators.
He
said, “The group (Boko Haram) is mostly comfortable with Islamic
clerics. The insurgents are more comfortable with people that are
considered neutralists. .
“For the
purpose of negotiation, if the government is setting up a team, I
strongly advise that the team should be made up of Islamic clerics, who
are going to reach out to them to seek the release of the girls.”
Just
as the Islamic bodies have requested, former President Olusegun
Obasanjo had insisted that President Goodluck Jonathan must approve his
planned move to secure the release of the Chibok schoolgirls.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV
on May 31, 2014, the ex-President had said while he had not been
officially mandated to lead the mediation, his next step was to get an
approval from the government. He insisted that the President must know
about his moves.
Again on June 12,
2014, in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service, Obasanjo had expressed
his regret that the Federal Government had not yet given him the green
light to reach to the insurgents for the release of the girls.
The
Federal Government had, however, insisted that Obasanjo had access to
President Jonathan, if he truly wanted to make inputs. Sources at the
Presidency had also expressed doubts over Obasanjo’s sincerity with his
plan.
