The civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has condemned the petition against Most Rev. Dr. Godfrey Igwebuike Onah; the Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese of Enugu State, Nigeria by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubarkar III, accusing him of incitement.
Recall that the media space was agog with the news of the petition by the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) asking the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, and the Department of State Services, to as a matter of urgency interrogate the Most Rev. Dr. Godfrey Onah; Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese in Enugu State over what it described as hate speech, inciting sermon of lies, fabricated to provoke hatred for Muslims.
The apex Muslim body specifically alleged that some Christian bigots attacked Muslims in Nsukka and burnt their Mosque following a sermon delivered by Bishop Onah.
They also noted that the sermon instigated the recent attacks on Muslims in the South-East and South-South regions, and the Sultan explained that the attacks intensified following his appeal to the security agencies on October 23, to offer special protection to Muslims in the two regions in view of the threats they face.
The petition, signed on behalf of the Sultan by NSCIA’s Deputy Secretary-General, Prof. Salisu Shehu, reads in part: “On Saturday, October 31, 2020, some Christian bigots unleashed violent and virulent attack on Muslims in Nsukka and burnt their Mosques as a result of a hateful and inciting sermon, full of lies and fallacies, delivered by one Bishop; Reverend Father Godfrey Igwebuike Onah.”
Also, NSCIA recalled its letter dated 6 Rabiul-Awwal 1442 AH (23 October, 2020) wherein they implored the Nigeria Police Force to specially protect the lives, property and places of worship for Muslims living in the South-East and South-South. The petition to the IGP, however, warned that the recurrence of the alleged virulent assault on Muslims in the two regions, if left unchecked, could surely ignite reprisals in other parts of the country, especially in the North.
Meanwhile, the HURIWA Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, expressed concern about the petition against Bishop Onah by the NSCIA, noting that the Sultan is inciting and threatening Christianity by trying to play god and must not be allowed to achieve his ‘unholy plans’.
According to him, “If we sit back and fold our arms whilst this perceived discrimination is allowed to fester, then we will be shooting ourselves in the foot and destroying the essence of constitutional democracy. The Sultan of Sokoto should understand that he doesn’t have the right to treat non-Muslims as if the country doesn’t belong to us, they should not try to arrest the Bishop unless they want the country to burn.
“We think this is a plot to undermine Christianity in this country and we think nobody should undermine anybody’s religion in Nigeria as we all have freedom of Worship. We are Nigerians, we have equal rights just like my Muslim brothers and Fulani brothers and sisters, we are all the same. There is nothing wrong with the sermon of the Bishop”, he said.
He further demanded that the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the State Security Service should dismiss the ‘unholy petition’ else, HURIWA will not fail to consider the option of seeking legal redress in a Court of competent jurisdiction.
“We also urge the President; His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari to save what is left of the unity of this country. In the last five years, his administration has planted animosity between different Ethnic and religious nationalities than even the civil war created so much that it will take the Grace of God and the will to overpower our differences for Nigeria to rebuild the bridge of unity that the discriminatory administrative style of President Muhammadu Buhari has destroyed in the last five years”, he remarked.
Onwubiko further urged the Sultan of Sokoto and northern governors to stop overheating Nigeria, adding that they should rather help their brother [President Buhari] in power to succeed.
it would be recalled that Bishop Onah, in his October 18 homily published on his YouTube Channel, had said; “We hear the Muslim call to prayer from our windows in our bedrooms at 4.00 a.m. and a Christian in Abuja (who) takes her Bible to call people to accept Jesus Christ is murdered by Islamist fundamentalists and nothing happens.
“It cannot continue and these are the things we have to say NO to. It is not just about the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). It’s about injustice, it’s about violence.
“It is not possible that Muslims in this country can acquire land and build Mosques anywhere. Many mosques are rising in Nsukka now and Christians can no longer obtain land to build churches in the so-called Christian-dominated states let alone the northern state,” he stated.
