SHEIKH Abdulraman Sulaiman Adangba is the National
Missioner of an Islamic society known as Al Fatih – Ul – Quareeb Islamic
Society of Nigeria. In this interview, he described the Islamic sect
known as Boko Haram, currently terrorizing innocent Nigerians in the
North as non-Muslims and believes that President Goodluck Jonathan
should rather have stayed back to sort things out instead of the
jamboree to Brazil. Excerpts….
What is your reaction to the current crisis in Kaduna?
It is very pathetic and disgusting seeing things like these happen in
Nigeria at a time that we need a good growth. It is something that is
unwanted and it is totally condemned especially when it is attached to
Islam and the Muslim of which I am one of them; because the Islamic
divine constitution which we use is a unified one and it never changes.
It is the same from here to Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Bahrain to America
amongst others; it is still the same thing. It is very bad. It warns us
not to kill because if you kill a soul unjustifiably it is like you kill
all mankind. So, how can someone come up and say he is fighting for
Islam or God who you did not see and kill people created by the same
God. It is really very bad and unrealistic.
What then is your advice to leadership of Boko Haram?
Let me tell you something, the Boko Haramists are not Muslims. The
people perpetrating these atrocities on the platform of Islam understand
that there is volatility in religion. When you bring two religions
together and you allow commotion between them and they start fighting
that is the end of it. They want to institute a forum where there will
be pandemonium, fear, destruction in the land and that is what they are
looking for. Although, an Islamic Sect called Boko Haram existed since
1990 and its members were into Islamic propagation without causing
problem with anybody.
But when it got to point when the politicians started using them, we
found that they have gone beyond the limit that an ordinary Islamic sect
goes; and that is the transgression limit. You done go beyond the
transgression limit, where somebody abuses or does something bad to you,
you are not expected to retaliate. If one fights you or attempts to
kill you, then you can defend yourselves, but who is fighting them now?
NOBODY!
When Yusuf was caught in 2009, the footage was shown on Al Jazeera of
how he was brutally killed. He was shot and shattered with gun shot. He
was naked before he was killed. He was caught in the afternoon, made a
statement towards evening and before morning he has been killed. Can
you see the level of injustice? And nobody is talking in this country;
even the government.
Number two; former President Obasanjo went to visit his in-law to
solicit for him but the person he went to visit to solicit for peaceful
co-existence, was killed within 24 hours in cold blood. When we watched
the footage, we could see that he was tied to a running car on one side
and another car on the other side and the cars started moving and he was
torn to pieces. You could imagine that inhuman treatment to a fellow
human being; just because they are going to get some facts from him and
everybody would know the root causes of what is happening in that part
of the country. And they have not stopped ever since till now.
A lot of security reports have been given and more so the reports
that are in green-white-green-yellow paper and because the Muslims will
not talk. I am sorry to say it you Press people will play down on things
because they don’t have any other place to work. What we are saying
here; is that if we say the truth, it is not only those that are
affected alone that will suffer; all of us will suffer it. Something
that is happening in the North must be relayed accordingly; the Kano
riot claimed numbers of the Muslim clerics.
Before now in the Maiduguri axis where the whole thing started, a lot
of Muslim clerics have been killed; no paper carried it the way it is.
Some central mosques were being attacked; people were killed while
praying. Out of 17, only two were reported. Why doing that? There should
be fair reporting. Let people know so that we don’t instigate ourselves
against ourselves. Who wants to die?
These people will carry their children and run out of the country.
When they come back, their children who are trained abroad, will come
and be our rulers. Their children study outside the country because they
have all the money. We don’t have. They have the money and everything
to rule but we don’t have anything. We suffer to eat, we suffer to
drink, we suffer to power our houses with electricity, to have good
roads. Even while we are sleeping, they bomb our house. A time will
come, if nothing is done, that they will bomb our house while we are
sitting and you will not be able to do anything.
The Boko Haram, we don’t know but the government knows them, because
the president has told us that they are in his cabinet. The government
knows them because they are in the army, military and everywhere all of
them surrounding the governance of Nigeria, why not fish them out?
Something must be wrong somewhere and somebody is putting a square peg
in a round hole.
It is only the spiritual leaders in this country that can make peace
to reign and do you know why because we are close to the grassroots and
everybody will listen to us even when we are lying. The Muslim and
Christian leaders should come together for what I call RNC. Do you know
what I mean by that? It is different from SNC—Sovereign National
Conference. Before a sovereign national conference can succeed there has
to a Religious National Conference (RNC) which is totally different
from National Sovereign Conference.
The government has failed us. Look at the star Boko Haram in the
petroleum sector. Another Boko Haram is in the financial sector. The
subsidy debate is going to die a natural death now. If there is a RNC,
where all religious leaders should come out and shout that our
government has failed us; when you have decided to kill us because you
are in a position, what are we talking about. When we come out of RNC,
we will have almost 100 per cent of the people following us.
Do you really believe that government is handicapped over this issue?
I will not believe that and I will never believe that. Government is
not handicapped. If some people are not above the law in this country as
he had been telling us, which is a lie, then some people should have
been brought to book. Why the dilly dallying? Why the stage play? There
have been petitions. There have been probe panels. Where is the action?
Some people are behind it; no matter how hard they are and government
said they are in the cabinet, military, air force, police, SSS who are
they? Are you telling me government is handicapped? That is a
multi-million question. If we ask who they are there are no answers.
Why do you think the government cannot act?
In Nigeria nobody goes into government to make sacrifice, everybody is
going in to make money. While making money and you want to say the truth
people will threaten to expose you and you will shut up. The bottom
line is that the government of Nigeria is totally corrupt. And from all
indications it is showing glaringly that government is not ready to
tackle corruption in its entirely, but to cover corruption our faces and
allow corruption to take place.
Let me explain this when government made the fuel subsidy propaganda
January this year, after investigation we found out that N5.3 trillion
was taken by a clique of people and government spends N1.3 trillion
yearly for subsidy and that means these people take subsidy three times
without doing anything.
And the government takes the money and return it back to the subsidy
and reverse the fuel price to N67 per litre. They will tell us they get
the money but we don’t know where the money goes to. We don’t know, they
don’t return the money. They will pack the money which they may not
even spend. We hears some stories that some high ranking ministers in
Nigeria are buying houses in Geneva for over $30 million and Germany and
nobody is talking about it. You want to tell me that such ministers
cannot be asked questions?
Why the nation is on fire our president is in Brazil for Earth summit….
I saw in the papers where he said it was a schedule visit. Where is the
schedule? You should have put your house in order before you consider
any foreign trip. If your house is burning and you go to the market, it
would have burnt by the time you return. I believe that the Brazil trip
is a market and we are going there to sell our wares but because we
don’t even have wares to display there I think the trip is unwarranted;
if your house is on fire.
You are going the Brazil at a time when your development index rating
is said to be taking a nose dive. Again, we are going for an earth
summit with 116 persons accompanying the president. They are going to
take a whole plane. I do know what we are going to do with that large
entourage. Are we going for a Commonwealth Games or are these people all
going to be talking there. How are we going to feel when we touch down
at the Rio de Janeiro Airport. I think he is on a very hot seat and he
needs to be on ground to sort things out instead of this trip.
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