Independence Message to President Muhammadu Buhari And Nigerian Citizens.
1st October, 2020, Muharram 1442
To
The President, Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerian citizens
In the name of Allah (God) the most beneficent, the most merciful, Peace and blessings be upon his beloved last Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
Assalamualykum (peace be upon you)
On this day, Nigeria’s 60th Independence Day, we the Muslims against terror organization, wish to congratulate the Nigerian President Muhammad Buhari and his Vice, Attorney Yemi Osinbajo on its successful democratic transition. Democracy in Nigeria has ensured liberty and fundamental freedoms to the best of every individual and nation, and that freedom is the strongest source for bringing dignity to one’s life, peace, prosperity, and development to nations.
We express our deep sympathy to the Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian Citizens that Nigeria has been plagued by gangs of armed bandits preying on villagers, clashes between herdsmen and farmers and the continuing Islamist insurgency of Boko Haram or Islamic State for West Africa Province.
It is this belief that makes us, the Muslims against terror continue to fight for protecting the democratic way of life against the brutalities of terrorism of Boko Haram faction allied to ISWAP (Islamic State for West Africa Province) operating in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and other part of the world.
In Nigeria Since July 2009, the actions of Boko Haram or Islamic State for West Africa Province had led to loss of lives and properties in the country especially in the Northern part of Nigeria, have left thousands of people displaced. Some of these activities of the Islamic sect (Boko Haram or Islamic State for West Africa Province) include; bombings in some cases using suicide bombers, on a wide array of venues including police stations, military facilities, churches, mosque, schools, sporadic shooting of unarmed and innocent citizens, Kidnappings, several foreign nationals including two British nationals, have been killed by their captors and humanitarian workers have been kidnapped in the north of Nigeria, including in Adamawa, Bauchi, Katsina, Borno, Kano, and Kaduna state, etc.
In December 2019, four Nigerian aid workers who had been held hostage since July were reportedly killed, by Boko Haram or Islamic State for West Africa Province.
In addition to these attacks, the group has killed some Christians worshiping in church, and Muslims who the group accused of having cooperating with the government and has assassinated Muslims clerics, some members of Muslims against terror and traditional leaders in the north for allegedly speaking out against its tactics or for cooperating with authorities to identify group members.
The Nigerian President Muhammad Buhari will leave no stone unturned to fight again and again to liberate our people from terror and to ensure for each and every man, woman, and child security, peace, freedom, and improved quality of life.
In our fight against the terrorist’s group “Boko Haram or Islamic State (IS)” in Nigeria, we the Muslims against terror has specifically work with the security agencies to take extra care and be vigilant about the protection and promotion of human rights of all while conducting the operations.
We Muslims against terror raised the alert to Nigeria securities over the Nigerian terror group “Boko Haram” who has sworn “bay’ah” (Oath of allegiance) to Islamic states; (ISIS) or Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in 2015.
The Boko Haram or Islamic states; (IS) whose professed aim is to rid the country of its corrupt and abusive government and institute what it describes as religious purity, has committed horrific crimes against Nigeria’s citizens.
In the name of ending the group’s threat to citizens, we the Muslims against terror appreciate the effort the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari government and the security forces comprising military, police, DSS, and intelligence personnel, known as the Multi-national Joint Military Task Force (MJTF) and the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), has responded with a heavy hand to Boko Haram’s violence, and have killed hundreds of Boko Haram in “operation total wipe-out” of the insurgents “ISIS/Boko Haram” in North-Eastern Nigeria.
Our Work in Nigeria, Africa, and the world, since August 2012 includes:
- To Spread the true teaching of Islam as a religion of Love, Peace and total submission to the will of Almighty Allah (God).
- To promote tolerance and good neighborliness among all the religious sects and groups in Nigeria and all over the world, E.g.; Christians, Judaism etc.
- To assist the Nigerian securities; Army, DSS, Police, on security information’s of a terrorist group in Nigeria, e.g. “Boko Haram, or Islamic states; (ISIS)” etc.
- To encourage and support good governance at all levels in the fight against terror. (Boko Haram or Islamic states; (ISIS) etc.)
- To stand against terror, killing of innocent people, resist violence in Nigeria and around the world.
We the Muslims against terror will continue to fight this threat in all its forms and manifestations with determination and in full solidarity. “Terrorism in all its forms poses a direct threat to the security of the citizens of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, other countries, and to international stability and prosperity”.
It is a persistent global threat that knows no border, nationality or religion and is a challenge that the international community must tackle together. “Terrorism in any form and anywhere is a threat to the international community”.
The continued threat from extremist groups, Boko Haram or Islamic states; the al Qaeda-linked terrorist group, continues to recruit children and use them in battlefields operating in the northern Cameroon, Chad, Niger, north east Nigeria etc.
As the world focuses on the fight to curb COVID-19, the Boko Haram, or Islamic State for West Africa Province (ISWAP) have increased terror attacks in Africa amid coronavirus pandemic, such as in;
- Nigeria: Since October 2019, there has been an increasing trend of terrorist groups constructing illegal vehicle checkpoints on major supply and commercial routes in Northern Nigeria and attacking vehicles travelling on major roads into Maiduguri, Borno State, including the A3 Maiduguri-Damaturu road.
- These attacks have directly targeted civilians, security forces and aid workers Kidnappings and sporadic shooting and killing of unarmed innocent citizens. Since late July, the group has murdered several humanitarian workers in Nigeria and are suspected of slaughtering French aid workers in Niger.
On Tuesday March 24, 2020. Another Boko Haram faction allied to ISWAP (Islamic State for West Africa Province) ambushed a Nigerian military convoy in Gorgi, Yobe State. At least 47 soldiers were killed.
- Cameroon: On Sunday 5 April 2020 in northern Cameroon; Boko Haram is wreaking havoc in Cameroon as well as Nigeria and other countries in the Sahel region and its attacks are going mostly noticed, seven people were killed when two suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers blew themselves up at around 8pm in the attack on Amchide, a village on the border with Nigeria.
On August 2, 2020, Boko Haram attack on a site hosting 800 internally displaced people near the village of Nguetchewe in northern Cameroon. At least 18 people were killed, and more than 11 injured. The assailants threw an explosive device, believed to be a grenade, into the makeshift camp while people were sleeping.
“This attack follows a significant rise in violent incidents in Cameroon’s Far-North Region in July, including looting and kidnapping by Boko Haram and other armed groups active in the region,”. The resulting war has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, creating a refugee nightmare in the region
- Chad: On Monday March 23,2020; Chad suffered its deadliest toll in its battle against terrorism, when Boko Haram terrorists ambushed a military encampment of Chadian soldiers on the Boma Peninsula, in the Lake Chad region. Over seven hours, the militants killed at least 92 heavily armed troops with machine guns and bombs and injured dozens of others.
In the last five months, about 100 Chadian soldiers and innocent people have been killed in deadly attacks by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) around the Lake Chad region.
- Niger: On Sunday August 9,2020, the Islamic State’s ‘province’ in the Sahel, known as Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS), was suspected of killing six French NGO workers, their Nigerien guide, and one other Nigerien citizen. The victims were on safari near Niamey, Niger in a village where many experts take day trips to see the Sahel’s only remaining wild giraffes. The workers were captured and later summarily executed by gunshot, while one woman was found with her throat slit. Not only did these victims lose their lives, but any hopes for Niger’s tourism industry to revive after COVID-19 were also dashed.
- Mozambique; Since, October 2017, 7OO civilian have been killed in attacks at times claimed by the Islamic State armed group or other militants who have joined a homegrown group called either Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama or Ansar al-Sunna (meaning ‘supporters of tradition’).
On Tuesday March 24, 2020, A terrorist organization in Mozambique, allegedly allied to ISIS, ransacked the strategic port city of Mocimboa da Praia, killed and injured dozens of soldiers and police officers.
The group is often called locally Al-Shabaab, but it has no practical connection to the Somali rebel organization. the ISIS-affiliated extremist group Ansar al-Sunna has spearheaded an insurgency in Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado. The group now launches more than 20 attacks every month in an insurgency that covers nine major towns and districts along the Cabo Delgado coast.
“A terrorist attack on one country is an attack on humanity as a whole. All nations of the world must work together to Identify the perpetrators and bring them to Justice”.
. “Attacks can occur anywhere in the world, usually with little or no warning”.
“There are fears of more attacks?
The “Boko Haram, or Islamic states; (IS)”, terrorists of any kind should never be allowed to rest. Fatefully, as we are learning with COVID-19, containment alone is not a winning strategy against terrorists like ISIS, al-Qaeda, and its affiliates.
We the Muslims against terror wish to notify the Nigerian president Muhammad Buhari that; “Terrorism has become a global burden, there’s no miracle drug for stopping terrorism, “terrorism is like a serious disease, controllable but not curable”
The Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari should continue to pursue terrorists and fight terrorism like we are now fighting the coronavirus: relentlessly, creatively, and coherently.
We thank the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari for joining forces with African leaders in tackling the challenges the region faces in thewar against insecurity and terror in the region.
We Muslims against terror wish to notify the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerian citizens that the “Islamic Boko Haram” who has been fighting to create an “Islamic caliphate” based in Nigeria since it began its insurgency a decade ago has been defeated by President Muhammadu Buhari but he is now fighting a “Political Boko Haram” in Nigeria.
The activities of these “Political Boko Haram” have ranked Nigeria the third terrorism most impacted country in the world by the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) in 2020.
Our advice to Nigeria nation is: The Nigeria nation should please know that; these “Political Boko Haram” are not fighting because of any religion. They just wage war against Nigeria, Christians, Muslims, Judaism and its democracy and that is why we urge people of the area to remain law abiding and support security agencies with useful information to help in restoring peace and stability in the area and come together to assist the security agencies; Army, DSS, Police, JTF to fight and end the Insurgents in Nigeria.
We all have to be together in this fight, as the promotion of international peace and security is our common responsibility. The freedoms have to be defended everywhere. For better or worse, the world has become a global village. What happens in one country reverberates all over. Let us join hands to make the world a better place for our children.
We the Muslims against terror are committed to helping the Nigerian government at all levels to bring peace in Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world. Whatever we can do, as long as it is not against Islam.
We condemn and oppose all aggression on human life, freedom, and dignity anywhere in the world. As Muslims, we condemn terrorism and all its forms and manifestations.
We the Muslims against terror, intelligence security reported show that the North-West is bedevilled with resurgence of armed banditry, cattle rustling & kidnappings. North-East has since become” Boko Haram/ISWAP” enclave, while the North-Central is the breeding ground of conflict between farmers/herders, ethic militias and rampaging Fulani gun men. Other regions across the country has its own share of insecurity, though on a different scale and proportion.
The movement of herdsmen and subsequent clashes with farmers and host communities in recent times has heightened insecurity in Nigeria, particularly in the North Central region and by extension in other parts of the country.
The mass killings of innocent people and destruction of properties by “armed bandits, Gunmen, armed Headsman,” should not be allowed to inflict such pain and then have their actions be allowed to divide their victims along religious and ethnic lines.
Furthermore, it is alleged that some of the “Fulani militiamen” migrated from other countries in west Africa to carry out the attack in Nigeria, due to a shared ethnicity that is present in several other countries across the sub-region.
The attacks carried out by “armed bandits, Gunmen, armed Headsman”, on some communities in the North and South have been another major insecurity challenge facing the country, these clashes are becoming as potentially dangerous as the Boko Haram insurgency in the north east Nigeria.
The Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari should tackle the activities of “armed Bandits, Gunmen, armed Headsman”, which had led to loss of lives and properties in the country especially in the Northern part of Nigeria.
In the preceding weeks and months, we had witnessed horrific spate of violence perpetrated by “Armed bandits, Gunmen, Armed Headsman”, In terms of perpetrators of the violence, our report states that about 1,068 persons were killed by suspected armed bandits, 73 by armed herdsmen between January and August this year (2020), in Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto states, etc. and “Nigeria Mourn”.
The recent attack of armed bandit was on Saturday 12 September, 2020 when gunmen suspected to be armed bandits have killed a 33-year-old operative of the Department of State Services, Sadiq Abdullahi, who worked with the intelligence department of the service in Abuja, was kidnapped alongside his four-year-old son at his residence behind Federal Secretariat in Katsina metropolis.” He has been buried according to Islamic rights”.
On Thursday 17 September 2020, two police officers were killed when some 100 gunmen attacked and overran a police base in Nigeria’s north-western Sokoto state. The gunmen, disguised in military uniforms, struck a police base in the Tangaza local government area around 1 a.m. local time. A divisional police officer and an inspector there were overpowered and killed, and their firearms confiscated. The suspects also abducted two women believed to be wives of prominent businessmen in the area. Also, two officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) were Monday 14 September, 2020, confirmed dead and 10 others missing after gunmen attacked two buses conveying 26 officials in Nasarawa State.
“Terrifying attacks on rural communities in the north of Nigeria have been going on for years, the killings, during attacks by “armed bandits” or armed Headsman, and in clashes between herders and farming communities for access to land, have been recurrent for several years. “President Muhammadu Buhari government needed to do more to resolve and restore peace across the region”.
“The ongoing failure of security forces to take sufficient steps to protect villagers from these predictable attacks is utterly shameful,”.
The President Muhammadu Buhari government and the security agencies has failed under the reign of “Armed bandits, Gunmen, and Armed Headsman” this alone had shown government’s failure to protect lives and properties as enshrined in the constitution of Nigeria. We urge the Nigerian citizens to be at alert and security conscious of your environment at all times.’
We the Muslims against terror hope to get rid of “Armed bandits, Gunmen, Armed Headsman,” and other criminal elements of, ‘’Boko Haram or Islamic states in Nigeria”, but there are a lot of sabotage in the fight against insecurity which has contributed to the inability of President Muhammadu Buhari government to defeat it.
It is necessary for the President Muhammadu Buhari and the security agencies to apprehend the true perpetrators of these crimes;( armed bandits, Gunmen, andarmed Headsman), as well as those who aid and abet them through incitement, financing, or other support of “Boko Haram” or Islamic State for West Africa Province (ISWAP) or Islamic state of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and affiliates to al-Qaeda terrorist organization in North-Eastern Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, etc. and the rest of the world.
We the Muslims against terror wish to advise those Nigerians, particularly some “Northern politicians” who are sponsoring these criminal activities even the “armed bandits, Gunmen, armed headsmen and “Boko Haram” or ISIS” in Northern part of Nigeria. We described as the enemies of Nigeria and of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to make the ruling party look incompetent in order to take over in the next general election.
We the Muslims against terror, therefore recommended that the President Muhammadu Buhari government should declare war on “armed bandits, Gunmen, armed Headsmen,” and seek useful information from community leaders, state governors could support the fight against insecurity in the north and other parts.
The crimes, killing, dispossession carried out by the terrorists” Boko Haram or Islamic State for West Africa Province”, armed bandits, Gunmen, armed Headsman”,against civilians in Katsina, Borno, Plateau, Benue, Kaduna state, etc. in Nigeria, that have affected Christians, Muslims, in southern Kaduna, Borno, Katsina, and all other faiths and peoples in the northern Cameroon, Chad, Niger, north east Nigeria etc. and West Africa, violate the Quranic Teaching; “that Anyone who kills a human being – it shall be as though he has killed all of mankind, If any one saves a life, it shall be as though he has saved the lives of all mankind.” These provide proof that Islam forbids killing of the innocent people (Holy Quran 5:32).
Islam is the religion of Peace, love and total submission to the will of Almighty Allah (God). The Holy Quran tells Muslims to “stand firmly for justice and against injustice”.
There actions” Boko Haram or Islamic, armed bandits, Gunmen, armed Headsman”, are to be denounced and are in no way representative of what Islam actually teaches! Also, the Quran states clearly, and remember we took your covenant (to this effect); Shed no blood amongst you nor turn out your own people from your homes; and this ye solemnly ratified, and to this ye can bear witness. After this it is ye, the same people, who slay among yourselves, and banish a party of you from their homes. Qur’an, 3:6415 Qur’an, 29:4616 Qur’an, 5:8217 Qur’an, 6:108.
“Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was revealed many times before through prophets, including Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (PBUH). The Quran also states: ‘say, “We believe in God and the revelation given to us and to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendent and that given to Moses, and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them and it is to Him that we surrender ourselves” (The Holy Quran 2:136).
Islam does not encourage nor preach violence, killing; Islam encourages peace and peaceful co-existence with other religions for as long as those religions wish Islam same; Islam also encourages kindness and justice to every body irrespective of their religion.
The failure or religious leaders to provide good examples as preached by their religion also has a serious and negative impact on inter-religion relation in Nigeria. When the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was in Makkah he was nicknamed “Al-Amin” (the trustworthy), by both Muslims and non-Muslims, because he was able to preach his religion more by his character than his words and this helped him secured more converts than through using force.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Every faith has an innate character. The character of Islam is modesty.” The Prophet also said: “Modesty does not come into anything without adorning it.” Quran (2:208): O You who believe! Enter absolutely into peace [Islam]. Quran (6:108) And insult not those whom they (disbelievers) worship besides Allah, lest they insult Allah wrongfully without knowledge…
The beloved Prophet (SAW) said “You will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love each other… spread the peace among each other”
Jami at-Tirmidhi 1854: “O Mankind, spread peace and feed people…”
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or he is oppressed.” The people asked, “It is right to help him if he is oppressed, but how should we help him if he is an oppressor?” The Prophet replied: “By preventing him from oppressing others.” Sahih Al-Bukhari
If our religious leaders (Muslims, Christians, Judaism etc.) in Nigeria and intellectuals could demonstrate the beauty of their religion to everybody within and outside their fold, it will go a long way to resolving this hostility.
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