By Rasheed Abubakar 

‘What kind of barbaric act is this?’, ‘Why is nobody, not even the media, talking about this?’, ‘Pathetic’ (with crying emoji) were some of the grieving remarks by some Muslims that saw the pictures of the burnt and demolished Nsukka mosques as published by Muslim News Nigeria on its official Twitter handle, on Sunday, November 1.

The Islamic newspaper had on the same day reported how irate commercial Tricycle ‘Keke’ Riders allegedly in cahoot with hoodlums, set ablaze Edem Road Central Mosque and demolished Barracks Junction Mosque, both at Nsukka, Enugu State, over an altercation that happened between an Igbo Commerical Tricycle ‘Keke’ rider and a passenger, a Hausa lady which led to Killing

‘If not for ignorance and sheer hatred, what concerns a mosque with two people fighting outside?’, was a mind-boggling question that came to the mind of Adams Sulaiman, a social media user, who joined thousands of netizens to condemn the burning and demolition of Muslim places of worship in several parts of South-South and southeast of Nigeria.

Be above board in leadership callings- NASFAT urges Muslims

In recent weeks, there have been a series of coordinated attacks on Muslims (especially the Hausa community), places of worship, and their investments in the region predominantly populated by Igbo Christians. Many of these attacks, unfortunately, have gone unreported.

Investigations carried out by Muslim News showed that before the Nsukka attacks on Saturday, the popular Orlu Central mosque in Imo state was set on fire by suspected members of the proscribed group – Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who hid under the guise of #EndSARS protests to wreak havoc on Muslims and Killing

During the attack which lasted for two days (between Tuesday and Wednesday, October 20 and 21), one Muslim was killed and four others, including the Mosque’s Assistant Imam, sustained various degrees of injuries.

While many Muslim netizens were condemning the attacks and slamming the media for keeping mum — unlike the Lekki toll gate shootings that have enjoyed unprecedented local and international media coverage, one Nwoko Nanta on Facebook defended the arsonists, saying: “Orlu Mosque was built by Igbo Muslim and burnt by Igbo Christians. It is an Igbo affair. Yoruba and Hausa Muslims should stay away from our problems. We will still solve it among ourselves.” Read more >> https://muslimnews.com.ng/2020/11/03/killing-of-muslims-in-ph-orlu-and-the-hypocrisy-complicity-of-nigerian-media-by-rasheed-abubakar/

CHURCHES IN NORTHERN VILLAGES

I have observed that in every village along with Kano to Abuja highway there is a new church. Even if there is no single Christian in a village, they will build a church and bring one or two Christian families from somewhere to live in the village. Each of these occupy-and-control new churches is built near the road with huge signboards announcing their presence and denomination. These new churches without native worshippers are mostly built by Southern Nigerian Christians.

I carefully monitored the development of these churches over the years. Initially, they were built only where there is a police station or military barrack, but recently they are sprouting where there is no security. They usually start manifesting densely around major city satellite towns then spread outward. They buy large track of land in anticipation of population transfer and population dumping.

This development began around the period when southern Christians started a fake campaign that Northern leaders wanted to Islamize Nigeria, that is the late eighties when the Southern Pentecostal churches were gaining strength in their crusades and televangelism. Clearly, when they talk about Islamization, it is the opposite that is happening. They plan to occupy every village in the North, buy land, inject money to dominate the economic life of the villagers and through a long-term process of economic manipulation and insidious show of kindness turn the villagers into Christians.