Following allegation that some Muslims invited bandits to the South West region, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has charged Yoruba youths (Muslims and Christians) to join resistance vigilante groups like Oduduwa Peoples’ Congress (OPC), Amotekun, Iru Ekun in the fight against bandits.
The group’s executive director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, in a statement on Sunday, said “bandit war is here, Boko Haram war is also here. We will not flee from Boko Haram. We will do this together.
“Our forefathers were gallant in the Battle of Ogele (1825), valiant in Mugbamugba War (1824-1825), uncompromising in Eleduwe War (1830), and roaring lions in the decisive Battle of Osogbo (1840). We will defend our land. We will never run away. We mean every word here”.
The group accused some Yoruba Christian elements of orchestrating a hate-campaign against innocent Yoruba Muslims and Muslim groups, particularly MURIC by accusing them of inviting Boko Haram terrorists and bandits into the region.
Akintola in a rejoinder issued on Sunday in which he traced the allegation to ‘Muslim haters’, said “We are in possession of a satanic tweet in which the author alleged that MURIC had radicalized Islamic clerics in the South West and those clerics are inviting terrorists to the region”.
MURIC, therefore invited all Yoruba citizens to unite to fight bandits, adding “A divided house can never stand. United we stand, divided we fall. Nobody should politicize banditry. This is not about religion. We will never run away. We must fight for our land, our freedom, our children, our wives and our mothers.
According to MURIC, the South-West must come together and act like one body.
”Nothing can be farther from the truth. The real truth is that Yoruba Muslims have been victims of religious persecution for decades. Their Christian neighbours who are behind the persecution are hell bent on maintaining the status quo. They therefore resist every attempt to liberate Muslims in Yorubaland.
”Any individual or group who sets out with the agenda to emancipate Muslims in Yorubaland is tagged a radical, a fundamentalist or an extremist.
“This is the case of MURIC and this is why Muslim haters always concoct lies against the group. This also explains why MURIC’s name is now on the lips of this agent provocateur.
”It is just too illogical. How can MURIC or any Yoruba Muslim group invite Boko Haram or bandits to Yorubaland when we all know that those criminals do not differentiate on the basis of religion. They kill more Muslims than Christians. They attack mosques and churches.’’
