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Press Release:

An Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has dissociated the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) from the list of groups supporting terrorist activities in Nigeria. The NSA spoke on Tuesday, 14^th December, 2021, at the 14th Workshop of the League of Ulamas, Preachers and Imams of Sahel countries held in Abuja.

MURIC’s clarification came on the heels of a statement widely credited to the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, in which he named three groups backing terrorist organizations.

According to the director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola, in a statement issued on Thursday, 16^th December, 2021, “It is definitely not the well known Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) which is headed by the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar.

“JNI is known for promoting peace and mutual understanding among the different faiths and people in the country. It is known for collaborating with both the federal and state governments as well as national and international agencies to organise seminars, workshops and conferences aimed at enlightening Muslims nationwide on programmes like polio vaccination, good governance and responsible citizenry. It will be a huge disservice to mistake such an organisation for a group which is supporting terrorist activities.

“Such a mistake may arise from glaring similarities in nomenclatures as depicted in the allegation made by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno. The NSA named three groups backing terrorist organizations. To quote him verbatim, ‘…It is bolstered (i.e. terrorism) by activities of groups such as Jama’at Nasr al-Islam Wal Muslimin (JNIM), the Islamic and Muslim Support Group (GSIM) and ISGS, which have continued to pose an imminent threat to the stability of the region.’

“The NSA’s list may cause confusion as a lot of people, including the press, are likely to assume that the organisation mentioned by him is the same as the JNI. We hereby assert clearly, unequivocally and categorically that JNI is not on that terror-promoting list.

“The name of our JNI is shorter and it stops at ‘al-Islam’ whereas the name on the terror-promoting list is longer and it ends with ‘Muslimin’. Our JNI is Jama’at Nasr al-Islam (JNI) while the name of the group which has been accused of supporting terrorist activities is Jama’at Nasr al-Islam Wal Muslimin (JNIM). The acronyms are also different. The letter ‘M’ makes the difference between the peaceful and law-abiding JNI and JNIM which has been accused of promoting terror.

“We suspect mischief on the part of the JNIM for choosing a nomenclature that can be easily confused with JNI’s name. The choice of that name by the alleged promoters of terrorism was deliberate. It was designed to deceive gullible Nigerians, to unwittingly attract their support, to escape early detection by security agencies and to cheat on the original and popular JNI.

“We advise the NSA to always make a clear distinction whenever names of organisations and individuals are likely to cause confusion in the minds of the public. The NSA’s list has undoubtedly created unintended tension among the populace while some members of the media have sought clarification from Muslim leaders.

“It was this situation that actually informed our clarification. JNI is a peace-loving and law-abiding organisation. It collaborates with federal and state governments as well as national and international agencies for national development. It does not support or promote terrorist activities. Never, not our JNI.”

Muhammad Sabi’u and Aisar Fagge

The peaceful protests currently being held in many Northern Nigerian states as a result of the rising rate of killings and kidnappings have been hampered by men of the Nigera Police Force and the Department of State Service.

In Kano State, on Wednesday, 15th December, 2021 a group of protesters converged at NUJ Secretariat (Press Centre) to address members of the press and march on Kano streets to call on Federal Government to #SecureNorth and #EndBanditry particularly in Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Niger among others but security agents thwarted their plans.

A leading convener of #SecureNorth protest in Kano, barrister Abba Hikima while addressing the press stated:

“People are being killed on a daily basis in these states and therefore, there is a need for our leaders to act. Let me ask this question: What are the service chiefs doing in Abuja? They should be deployed to these areas affected by security problems. Let them rescue all the victims. They know where they are. These terrorists are not unknown. Security know them and their families. They should all be arrested. Let something be done. That’s all we are saying.”

“Look at how security cordoned off the meeting point of our peaceful protests. They intimidated and threatened members of NUJ. They [security] are not willing to give way for the protest to take place. Section 39 says we have the right to express ourselves and section 40 says we have the right to assemble. We’re professionals. We know what the law says. What we expect from the security agents is to protect us as we’re expressing ourselves. Not to arrest and intimidate us,” he lamented.

“One of our demands is that security agents should be empowered with sophisticated weapons and everything they needed to face these terrorists head on,” barrister Hikima concluded.

During the briefing, some protesters lamented how the police are being used to stop the peaceful protests that was being held despite the fact that it’s for the benefit of all—irrespective of one being a civilian or otherwise.

Imam Azzubair spoke to The Daily Reality saying: “We are here making a peaceful protest. People are being killed all over 19 Northern states and nothing is being done. We want to call the attention of the state governments, the local governments and also the federal government, which is the most important part of the government, to take action to bring end of this banditry and killing of people. It’s obvious that you cannot safely travel from one state to another. Businesses are dying; people are dying.”

Noting that security personnel are also victims of the present situation, he added, “The security personnel are also here to stop us from protesting. A message to them is that they should know that we are together [with them] in this situation. They are also being killed… So we are protesting for ourselves including them.”

Another protestant, Sada Sulaiman berated the security personnel for being reluctant in thwarting the activities of terrorists but are always quick to crack down on peaceful protesters.

He said: “They were stationed [to stop the protest] at a time when people are being killed and burnt on a daily basis on the way to Kaduna and Zamfara, but you would never see them taking action against that. And the perpetrators are terrorists. That means terrorists have overpowered the government and, on the other hand, the government has overpowered the people.”

“A village would be stormed; people would be killed; women would be raped; some would be kidnapped; and people’s property would be carted away.

“We really need government intervention. Nowhere is now safe in Nigeria.”

Recall that there has been a spike of activities of bandit terrorists in the northwestern part of Nigeria, who, besides all their terrorist activities, a few days ago set ablaze a vehicle conveying no less than 42 passengers and left all the passengers completely burnt to ashes in Sokoto.

By Abdurrahman Muhammad

The North-West Governors Forum, led by Governors of Katsina Aminu Bello Masari and his Kano counterpart, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, on Wednesday donated the sum of fifty million naira (N50,000,000) to the 23 families of the victims of last week’s gruesome attack in Sokoto.

The governors presented a cheque to their counterpart, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, at the Sokoto State Government House.

The governors prayed for the repose of the souls of the deceased.

On November 8, 2021, bandits shot at a bus conveying travellers from Sokoto to Kaduna. They, later on, set the bus on fire, killing all the passengers.

Local reports put the number of the victims as 42 while the Sokoto government says they were 23.

By Sumayyah Auwal Usman

President Muhammadu Buhari’s popularity has plummeted to the lowest level since he took over as the country’s leader in 2015, according to the latest Vanguard for Good Governance Initiative (VGGI) survey.

Results of the survey compiled by VGGI, show President Buhari’s popularity has declined sharply during the past two months with his approval rating dropping from 58 percent to 21 percent.

On specific issues, the survey found Nigerians, especially northerners, were unhappy over matters of heightened insecurity. Moreover, concerns about the economy, especially the cost of living and rising inflation are now seeing the president’s popularity hitting an all-time low among Nigerians.

The survey also reveals that the IPOB activities in the South-East is crippling the economy of the region.

VGGI says its survey consisted of phone calls, emails, interviews and text messages over the past three months to slightly more than 150,000 people.

By Sumayya Auwal Ishaq

By Sumayya Auwal Ishaq