The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to tell Nigerians if he has freed Kabiru Sokoto, who is the only Boko Haram terrorist convicted for the killing of over 50 worshippers at the Mandalla Catholic Church near Abuja.

HURIWA recalled that only few months back, Justice Ademola Adeniyi of the Federal High Court in Abuja had sentenced to life imprisonment Mallam Kabiru Abu baker Dikko (aka Kabiru Sokoto) and as at 2015, he was being held in Kuje prison following his conviction over his role in connection with the 2011 Christmas Day bombing of St. Theresa Catholic Church, Mandalla, Niger State.
The blast in respect of which he was given life conviction, claimed about 44 lives and wounded 75 others.

The National Coordinator of HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, and the National Media Affairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf, in a statement yesterday, recalled specifically that prior to his sentencing, the terror mastermind, Sokoto, was accused of withholding information on the plan to bomb St. Theresa Church.

The non-governmental organisations (NGO) called to remembrance that Sokoto was also charged with failure to disclose the plan to law-enforcement officer as soon as practicable, an offence contrary to Section 7(1) and punishable under Section 33(1) of Terrorism and Prevention Act 2011.

Part of the statement read: “Sokoto was further accused of supporting act of terrorism by training 500 men and inciting them to commit terrorist act, contrary to Section 4(1)(a) and punishable under Section 33(1)(b) of Terrorism and Prevention Act 2011.

“The accused allegedly facilitated the commission of terrorist act to wit by planting and encouraging some boys (now at large) at Mabira, Sokoto in Sokoto State with the intention to bomb the police headquarters and some other government agencies in the state. "The alleged offence is contrary to Section 15(2) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004 and punishable under the same Act.”

However, HURIWA has affirmed that since the current President Buhari administration accepted to free some Boko Haram terrorists being detained in exchange for the elusive Chibok school girls allegedly kidnapped over two years ago, the social media platforms are replete with reports of the release of this notorious terror mastermind who is one of the very few already convicted.

The rights group said it would amount to dancing on the graves of the innocent souls slaughtered by these terrorists for the current government to enter into this sort of satanic arrangements to set free a man who plotted the bombing of a Catholic Church filled up with worshippers thereby resulting in the slaughter of scores of Nigerians including babies and the elderly.

HURIWA also lambasted the current federal government for failing to aggressively prosecute the terror suspects in detention but has decided to engage in subterranean deals with dreaded armed terrorists for whatever considerations which are however unconstitutional, illegal and undemocratic.

The rights group also asked the president to address Nigerians and clear the impression that his government has decidedly released a hardened terrorist convicted for his crimes against humanity even when political prisoners like Mr. Nnamdi Kanu is languishing in prison.

Source: Thisday Live

The Oodua Muslim Progressive Council, (OMPC) has warned those calling for Fridays to be declared as public holidays saying  such calls are similar to turning Yorubaland to a theatre for religious bigotry and dirty conflict.  The OMPC is an arm of the Yoruba self determination groups.

In a statement on Monday and made available to Irohin Oodua (Oodua News), the OMPC warn of a desperate attempt by sponsored agents to demolish the age long tradition of the Yoruba people as the bastion of religious tolerance, peace and understanding. The group also called on the Federal Government to spread the dragnet to include Islamic non-governmental organizations that may be connected with trans-terrorists Islamic groups  

“Those calling for Fridays to be observed as a work free day are the arch enemies of the Yoruba people. They are a few despotic elements who probably receive their grants from some foreign countries, including the Islamic Movement of Egypt and need to work hard on the pages of newspapers to justify the blood money they collect”, the OMPC said in a statement issued by Mallam Abdulnasir Kadir Araoye. He said that millions of Yoruba Muslims who work as artisans and self-employed go to work on Fridays and return to the Mosque during the holy hours of prayers. If you are declaring Fridays as work free day, are you going to provide work and food for Yoruba Muslims who need to work on Fridays to earn a living? Last week, Prof Ishaq Akintola, an Islamic scholar called for Fridays to be declared as a work free day for Muslims.

The group also dismissed the claim that the Sultan of Sokoto is the head of Muslims in Nigeria. “This is a false and malicious claim. The Sultan cannot be the head of Yoruba Muslims. He is an usurper. He came to Nigeria in 1804 through violence, killings, looting and cold-blooded brigandage. How can the offspring of such a movement be the head of Nigerian Muslims? There was no record of the position of the Sultan until , this is 300 years after Islam had been established in Yorubaland as a religion of peace.” Even the Sultan did not introduce Islam to the North. There was a Muslim ruler, Umme- Jilmi who reigned between 1085 and 1097. He was converted to Islam by Sheik Mohammed Ibn Mani. In Hausa land, Islam was introduced by Wangarawa merchants. In Yoruba land, Islam came long before Mansa Musa of Mali (d.1337C.E). Islam was a strong religion in Yoruba land from the time of Alaafin Ajiboyede (1560 to 1570 C.E). So how did Sultan become the head of Nigerian Muslims including Yoruba? Who made him the head? Where was the meeting held where he was chosen? The idea of promoting the Sultan over several Yoruba Islamic scholars is a myth and a continuation of the political domination of Nigeria by the Fulani oligarchy. This is unacceptable to the Yoruba people. “Our concern in the 21st century is to go to space, build a Yoruba territory with cherished values, technological development, industrialization, peace and harmony. To achieve this feet we would want to see Yoruba people go to work everyday including Sundays and Fridays. It is a primitive idea to be fighting on Fridays being declared as a work free day.”

The group said Fridays as a working day was not imposed on Nigerians by any Christian group but by the British overlords. Nigeria has been living as a “give and take country.” The British handed over power to a reactionary Muslim Fulani North. There are Islamic inscriptions on Nigerian currency adding that asking for Fridays as a perpetual public holiday will lead to the loss of jobs and dwindling employment opportunities for the Muslim population.

“If you ask Muslims not to work on Fridays, we can assure you that many private employers will not like to employ Muslims any longer even if this policy is restricted to the Government employees. We also wish to know if we as Muslims will have to work on Christmas day and on Sundays. Will these elements also advocate for a change in the Western Calendar which is used in Nigeria? This is an irresponsible demand, a clear attempt to set the Yoruba nation and Nigeria on the cause of violence and disorder. We call on Yoruba people, especially youths to watch out for paranoid scholars who are using the name of religion for financial gains from some foreign countries at the expense of the poor Muslim population who desire happiness, justice, food and security.

Araoye added “We are watching these wicket plots. Yoruba people will rise up and prevent our territory from sliding into bloodletting and violence through the evil plans of the enemies within, who go by Yoruba names but their hears are filled with evil plots against their  own people.” The group said those who want to exploit religion to eat should do so but should not drag Yoruba land land into their “business and unbridled exploitation of the Muslim population.” An official of the OPC, Mallam Idris Olukehinde at Ibadan said his groups support the OPMC adding that the OPC and Yoruba self determination groups are worried about “evil plots to "Talibanise" Yoruba land.”

Plateau State governor, Barr Simon Lalong, has been alleged to have squandered 97 billion naira Plateau funds within one year, and also for taking loans of car-tracking devices to the tune of 18 billion naira.

REV DR. D. C. DATIRI

President, Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN)

What has been the impact of the Islamic insurgency on COCIN?

The impact is unquantifiable. The destruction is unbelievable. In Borno state for instance, COCIN has lost an entire RCC. An RCC is a Regional Church Council that has a number of zones and its Local Council has lots of congregations under it. So, if you are thinking of congregations, we used to have scores of congregations that have been completely displaced and many of the members have been killed.

In terms of infrastructure, Christian properties worth billions of Naira have been destroyed.

In Borno state, we had three Regional Church Councils. The RCC in Gwoza was completely destroyed. The other two are still operating minimally because of the number of congregations that they have in Maiduguri. Unfortunately, the other congregations outside Maiduguri metropolis have been destroyed by Boko Haram.

In Bauchi state, the Tafawa Balewa Area has been under constant attacks. Even after the elections, the congregations there were attacked also. It is only the grace of God that is sustaining the brethren there.

Coming to Plateau state, communities outside Jos are being attacked almost on a daily basis. I cannot tell you how many Regional Church Councils have been decimated in these attacks. All these are communities not far from Jos. The Muslims kill Christians and destroy their properties. The media report is usually that these communities have been attacked by unknown gunmen or by Fulani herdsmen. The underlying motive is to destroy the church.

Even in Nasarawa State, we have lost no less than five congregations. When you ask who is responsible for the destruction, security officers will claim they are unknown gunmen or Fulani herdsmen. Yet, is most instances, they come dressed in military uniform. Where did the Muslim insurgents obtain the military uniform that they wear when going to destroy churches?

In Yobe, we have lost scores of churches and many of the members of our congregations have been killed.

Last week, one of our pastors was killed in Barkin Kogi. Another pastor was killed  in Wase, in Plateau state while we just heard this week that one of our pastors in Gwoza had been killed by the Muslims.

 The target of all these Islamic attacks is the church. The goal is to destroy the church so that Islam can take over.

What are the implications of these attacks on the Nigerian Church in general?

You see, COCIN is the predominant denomination here on the Plateau as well as in some parts of Bauchi state. COCIN forms probably 70% to 80% of Christians on the Plateau. So, if they succeed in destroying COCIN, they would have succeeded in eradicating a sizeable portion of the church on the Plateau. Since their goal is to wipe out Christianity in Plateau state, in their bid to overrun Nigeria with Islam, eliminating COCIN on the Plateau is tantamount to overrunning Nigeria with Islam. Plateau state is a big hurdle for the Islamists in their quest and overcoming COCIN on the Plateau is a sure sign that they have conquered Christianity in Nigeria.

So, they concentrate their forces on eradicating Christianity on the Plateau. It is only by the grace of God that we are surviving. We keep asking God for strength, wisdom, and courage. But, I must tell you, it is heartbreaking. At times I receive phone calls in the middle of the night from our members asking for help and in the background, I hear the sound of gunshots. It is tragic.

What do you suggest should be the remedy? What should the Church do?

The remedy is for the church to be united. The Nigerian church must speak with one voice and let the world know that Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen are orchestrated attacks on the church. All the Christians in Nigeria must see these attacks as intentionally designed destruction against the body of Christ in Nigeria. The unity of the church will go a long way in solving the problem.

In the midst of these attacks, compromise is still noticed amongst ministers of the gospel, even in the affected areas. What is the cause of this?

This is a serious problem in the church. As the devil is working through Boko Haram and the other insurgents from outside to destroy the church, we also notice that unsanctified ministers of the gospel also weaken the church from within.

Our approach has been to emphasize consecration and holiness for our pastors.

We have identified the problem that you mentioned and we are working very hard to make sure that in COCIN, such compromise amongst the ministers of the gospel is eliminated. Of course, you will understand that in this matter, I can only speak for COCIN.

What message would you like to convey to other Christians, particularly in the South?

I have mentioned unity of the church. The Nigerian church must unite to confront this evil agenda to eradicate Christianity in the country. Added to this is the need for intensive prayers and intercession, particularly for the Christians in the North.

One important area in which we appeal for the support of Christians nationwide is meeting the needs of the victims of these attacks. In most instances, those who survive are often impoverished. Every means of livelihood is intentionally destroyed by these rampaging forces. Their homes are burnt to the ground, their properties are burnt, their food is destroyed and even their farmland is destroyed. The Fulani herdsmen intentionally go to the farms and destroy the food crops. The aim is to impoverish the people, destroy their economy so that they can dominate and control them.

There is a great need for material and financial support for the brethren undergoing these persecutions. They need clothes, foods, medical treatment and so on.

Is there a political reason for this?

This is one area where many Nigerian Christians are deceived, thinking that Islam separates politics from religion. For the Muslim, there is no separation between politics, religion, commerce, and whatever other area you might mention. So, when a Muslim attacks the church, he has no political or economic barrier.

The underlying factor is that the Muslims in northern Nigeria believe that they are born to rule and dominate every other person in Nigeria. To them, everything is the same — religion, politics, commerce, and so on. So, if you do not practise the religion that they believe in, then you imply that you are not under their control and they will fight that.

The only thing that will save the church is for us to be united. If the Nigerian church can unite, they will stop these Islamic attacks.

Finally, sir, do you have a word for the Nigerian Christians?

I think that the biggest problem Nigerian Christians have is that for many of us, we lack genuine Christian conviction. For many Nigerian Christians, their faith is superficial, it is only on the surface. We need to develop deep faith and the way we can easily do that is to pay attention to Biblical discipleship.

If we cultivate genuine Christian conviction, our problems will melt away.

BY THE SUN NEWSPAPER ON MAY 2, 2015

Frontline nationalist, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai is not exactly comfortable with the dynamics of the just con­cluded general elections. The elder statesman, in his characteristic bluntness, laments on the role of religion and ethnicity in the defeat of President Goodluck Jona­than. He is deeply worried that the fallout of the 2015 presidential election might result in negative consequences for the unity of Nige­ria. In this interview with DESMOND MG­BOH in Kano, he also spoke on the expecta­tions of Nigerians from the in-coming administration of General Muhammadu Buhari and the place of President Jonathan in the nation’s history books. Excerpts:

In less than a month from now, Nigerians will usher in a new government. As an elder states­man, what is your advice to the incoming admin­istration?

As everybody knows, the main agenda of the new admin­istration is to fight corruption, to deal with the security sit­uation, particularly the Boko Haram insurgency, rescue the Chibok girls and deal with unemployment. These are the priority areas in terms of their policy objectives. It is, there­fore, the expectation of every Nigerian that these three issues would be the main areas of their attention. I think that after taking over power, these areas would be the yardstick by which the people would pass judgment on them. I think that after the first six months or thereabouts, Nigerians would be in a position to judge whether the new administration would be in a position to fulfill the promises they made to the public or not.

In the face of the dwindling global economy and the fall in Nigeria’s oil revenue, do you see the new administra­tion realising the promises it made during electioneering?

Well, I can see the problems posed by the fall in the national wealth. But I think somebody raised this same ques­tion to one of the leading figures of the APC and the answer he got was that the money they are going to save from fighting corruption in the system would be enough for them to kickstart their programmes. He said that they would reduce spending; they would reduce waste; that this waste would be divert­ed to the implementation of their pro­grammes.

But considering that some of the people associated with the incoming government are them­selves accused of corruption or have corruption charges hanging on them, how much faith should we commit in their pledges to fight and stand against corrup­tion?

Certainly, I can tell you that there are many people who are skeptical about the ability of the new government to tackle the problems of corruption in this country, precisely because of the num­ber of individuals that are instrumental in the bringing about of the new admin­istration into place who themselves are super rich without any justification. The worry of Nigerians is that, how is the administration going to handle the cases of such personalities?

Again, the electoral promises of the new party apparently sound­ed so lofty. It appears to disre­gard the current recession that is sweeping across the globe. Do you share the same fears?

Everybody familiar with the global political economy would have the feel­ing that the global economic situation today is not ideal for any government to embark on costly projects. But I be­lieve that they must have done their homework before coming out with their promises. I believe that they must have done their homework.

Despite the efforts of President Jonathan to seek the friendship of the core North by extending a reasonable size of projects to them, he was hated, hunted and turned down by these same peo­ple during the presidential elec­tion. What exactly happened?

Well, the people (core North) have been incited against Jonathan a long time ago. Even the educated ones were not fair in relating to his achievements in the region. They had made up their minds that Jonathan is anti-North. And whatever he has done, he remained an­ti-North. The fact that he sited nine of 12 new universities in the North in order to assist in bridging the educational gap that exists between the North and the rest of the country did not matter. The fact that he introduced the Almajiri schools which would reduce the number of young peo­ple who go about doing nothing but beg­ging also never counted to them.

In fact, somebody this morning, as we were discussing Jonathan, insisted that Jonathan was only busy sacking North­erners from federal establishments. But when I looked at the number of ministers and northerners in key positions, I real­ised that this very influential individual, who should know better, had made up his mind not to be objective about the issue. He was not prepared to listen to anybody. So, some people had made up their minds. The fact remains that there was this high level conspiracy against Jonathan, such that whatever he does, it would have been very difficult to con­vince people to abandon their already concluded opinion about him.

For instance, I was made to understand that a number of the members of the tra­ditional institution and influential clerics and university people, they all ganged up to spread one form of propaganda or the other against him (Jonathan). And this propaganda has already gone down deep into the minds of the people. The Friday before the presidential election, virtually all the imams in the North made a simple appeal to their congregations that when they go out the following day to cast their votes, they should make sure that they did not cast their votes in favor of an infidel. Just in one or two words, the campaign was finished. So, the follow­ing day everybody was charged to go and vote against an infidel. Who was that in­fidel? Jonathan. Even the Friday after the election, I attended a mosque where the imam was offering thanksgiving prayers to God for getting rid of an infidel.

Still, on this topic, what about the PDP members who also failed to rise up to defend their own and their party?

That is not my problem today. My prob­lem is that we in the far North have acted out the script of Gideon Orkar. We have opted out of the mainstream of Nigerian politics and I am waiting for the time to come when we would realise the conse­quences of our action.

When you say that you people have acted out the script of Gideon Orkar, what exactly do you mean?

Let me put it this way. This country is a country which is equally divided between Christians and Muslims. Where a Muslim would not vote for somebody because he is a Christian, then there is a problem. It may not appear immediately but there is a long time predicament that would one day appear because when someday it is the turn of a Christian to vote for a Mus­lim, surely this thing happening today would boomerang.

So, you foresee a future where the country would naturally be torn between Christians and Mus­lims…?

(cuts in) This is my fear. It is not only a divide between Christians and Muslims, but also a divide between the North and the South, and that would not augur well for the political future of this country.

There is this funny outcome that has played out so far. Some PDP leaders who declined to cam­paign for Jonathan have been losing their states or losing their strongholds like what we have seen in Kano, Jigawa and a num­ber of the North West States. What is your take?

Well, the bandwagon effect was so monumental that little campaign here and there would not make much differ­ence. The campaign against Jonathan has gone far before most people understood that it was beyond the capacity of a few individuals to change the direction of the mind of the people. I hope you under­stand.

But some of the members of his political group played games with him?

Yes, there is this feeling that quite a number of PDP members and leaders here did not work hard enough for Jona­than. But what they did not understand is that in politics, if you ask your supporters to vote for your opponent for whatever reason; when they go to vote for your opponent, if you are not careful, they are gone forever. And this is what happened to all of them.

Looking at the future, do you think the PDP would survive this defeat and return to a position of reckoning in the country again?

Well, you are in Nigeria, when the lo­cal government elections took place in 1999. At that time, APP and PDP were neck to neck. And the moment, the mil­itary government decided to back the PDP to win the local government elec­tions, people from APP started to troop out of the party into the PDP. And this is what happened. At the end, when the state elections took place, APP was only able to get nine governors in addition to the six governors of the AD. This is about the same scenario that is repeating itself. So, it depends on those who are going to run the affairs of the PDP from now till 2019. What would be their strategy? The tendency in Nigeria is that if you are in government and people are not getting what they wanted from you, then tomor­row they would start conspiring against you. Let us wait and see how the new administration would be able to meet the aspirations of the generality of Nigerians. That would dictate the survival or resur­gence of the PDP in the future.

It is speculated that Chief Oluse­gun Obasanjo is already lobbying to nominate some ministers into the Buhari administration. Is Bu­hari politically safe working with people like Obasanjo?

If people report that Obasanjo is having his eyes on some particular ministries, I will not be surprised. Because this is ex­actly why he quarreled with the late Yar Adua. It is also the reason he quarreled with President Jonathan. By his own mantra, he would like to dictate to who­ever emerges as the president through his own facilitation. And he would like to see that whatever he wanted is what is done. The moment you fail to do what he wants, then he would start a fight with you. I would like to believe the specula­tion that Obasanjo has already earmarked some ministerial positions that he would want to be reserved for his nominees. If that is true and his candidates were not picked; then that would surely be the be­ginning of his quarrel with General Bu­hari.

What is the place of President Jonathan in history? Where do you think he would find himself at the end of all this?

From the point of view of his service to the nation, I think that one remarkable thing is that even though he was defeat­ed by the smallest margin in the history of presidential elections in Nigeria, he accepted the defeat and he did not go to court. In other cases of presidential election results, the margin was in the re­gion of 10 million and yet people went to court to challenge the outcome. In this case, the margin was just 2.5 million and he accepted defeat. He will go down in history as the president, who accepted defeat as a result of which so many lives were saved in this country, and in fact, a president who saved the nation. Because, if he had not accepted defeat at the time he did, and people had started killing one another, by now we will not be having this interview in my house, today.

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=117430

FP: Vijay Kumar, welcome to Frontpage Interview.

You are one of the rare individuals running for office in America who is actually making the issue of Islamic Jihad a significant part of your campaign. Tell us your view of Islamic Jihad and the background you have to make you see it the way you do.

(For Christian consideration)

Let me start by declaring that I am not a prophet. Nevertheless, I wish to invite you to kindly consider the issues stated below. I have no doubt that Nigeria would overcome its travails, due to the mercies of God, but I am apprehensive that it should not get worse, before it gets better.

I am writing this current Newsletter for the sake of real Christians especially leaders of the church in Nigeria and the nations. My intention is not to scare believers and hinder them from doing God’s work but they should be totally obedient to their calling. This edition will mostly zero into my calling and personal experiences about things of God. I know some people will say, “here she goes again, can’t this woman who is over 70 years of age, leave the global spiritual issues to the younger generation of Christians?  In any case Jesus is coming soon and what will happen will happen anyway,”

At the advent of state creation in 1967, an Interim Common Services Agency (ICSA) was established ostensibly to manage the common assets of the states of the defunct Northern Region. The Agency wound up in 1970. We should have been talking of states and zonal political structures and not the defunct North.

The Middle-Belt Region is the host and home to Rivers Niger and Benue in Nigeria. It is interspersed by upland and broad valleys and plateau and covered by high grass – law savannah and acacia – tall grass savannah and, acacia – desert grass savannah. It is almost of the same latitude between the North and South of Nigeria. It stretches from the Western to the Eastern longitude of Nigeria.