Borno EYN: Centre blasts Islamic group says mosques destroyed belong to Boko Haram
Rev. Kallamu Musa Ali Dikwa, Director General, Centre for Justice on Religious and Ethnicity in Nigeria, has described as false, mischievous, misleading and deception of the public by the Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Prof. Ishaq Akintola, concerning the demolition of EYN Church in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.
Recall that MURIC had revealed that the Borno State Government actually demolished 11 mosques and four churches contrary to claims that only churches were demolished in the state.
It stated that a team of investigators working with MURIC visited each of the sites where the mosques were demolished, interviewed residents, and gathered photographs and data that showed locations of each of the 11 mosques and dates of their demolition by officials of the Borno State Government for violation of purposes approved in residential titles, which was in compliance with a 2010 Government White Paper in response to the 2009 Boko Haram insurgency, which strictly prohibited the conversion of any residential house to a place of worship, in all parts of the state.
In a statement issued in Kaduna on Friday, Rev. Kallamu Musa Ali Dikwa said that MURIC leader in his statement alleged that 11 mosques were demolished by the government, adding, “I never see a Professor concocting lies like this. I am an indigene of Borno State and Kanuri by tribe, all the statement and claimed by Prof. Akintola is false. Only in 2009, the Borno State govt demolished mosques belonging to Boko Haram leaders/members.
“The MURIC leader, Prof. Ishaq Akintola knew within himself that what he said it’s total lies and his so-called claim was total deception to the public.”
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He lamented that Akintola does not have the name of the mosques allegedly demolished.
The Director-General challenged Akintola to publish the names of the demolished mosques, saying that his attitude is disgraceful to even the Islam religion.
“We all know including the so-called Prof. Ishaq that from the northern states every wealthy Muslim person if he builds a house, he also build a mosque in that house. Why is it that the Christians don’t have the right to do the same thing? Are Christians not Nigerians? Christians in this country are paying their tax and they are being treated as second-class citizens,” he added.
According to him, Gov. Babagana Zulum came out in public to tell the world that he was not aware of the demolition of the Church and that he didn’t direct anybody to carry out its demolition, lamenting that the MURIC leader is defending what he doesn’t even know.
Rev. Kallamu Musa Ali Dikwa further explained that there is a woman who bought some plots of land at Pompomari in Maiduguri at Baga Road since 2005, adding that she wanted to sell it to a church but some Muslims alleged that the land belonged to them but when she took them to Borno State High Court, she won the case, they also took her to another high court, where the judge connived with them and revoked the land and gave it to the Muslims but she later won the case at the Appeal Court.
He said, “I have all the necessary documents on the judgment from the two Courts of law with me. Therefore If Ishaq Akintola uses lies to defend his religion, I am proving him wrong, l have lots of written documents to prove Prof. Ishaq wrong of all that he is saying, so he has to be very careful with his statement on what he knows nothing about.”
The Director-General also lamented that Akintola or any of his MURIC group members never visited Maiduguri for such investigation but just concocted the story to deceive the public.
