The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has accused some Nigerian Christian leaders of using the influence of the United States (U.S.) to “bully” the Federal Government (FG) and “subjugate Nigerian Muslims.”
In a statement released on Tuesday by its Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, the Islamic human rights group alleged that Christian leaders deliberately reported alleged “Christian genocide” in Nigeria to the U.S. government to attract sympathy from what it described as a “Christian superpower.”
MURIC argued that if the motive was genuine, the report should have been sent to the African Union (AU) or the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rather than to the U.S., which it claimed was being used “as a tool of religious dominance and neo-imperialism.”
According to the statement, both Muslims and Christians have been victims of terrorism and violent attacks in different parts of the country.
“Terrorists and other criminals attack soft targets where they can get the largest assembly of victims. That is why they attack churches and mosques alike,” Akintola said.
He alleged that while around 200 churches had been destroyed across northern Nigeria, about 6,000 mosques were also demolished in the same region, insisting that Muslims suffer similar, if not greater, casualties from violence.
The group further accused sections of the media of bias, claiming that attacks on Christians are often sensationalised while those on Muslims are downplayed.
“Christian victims are identified by their faith in media reports, while Muslim victims, even when attacked inside mosques, are referred to vaguely as ‘worshippers’ or ‘audience,’” the statement said.
MURIC described the move to report Nigeria to the U.S. as “an attempt to arm-twist the government into granting undue political and economic favours to Christians.”
“Nigerian Christian leaders are brandishing U.S. power to blackmail the Federal Government and bully Muslims into silence,” Akintola alleged.
The organisation warned the Federal Government not to succumb to what it termed “Christian blackmail,” urging fairness in addressing all security and religious issues affecting citizens regardless of faith.
“It is a dangerous power game,” MURIC cautioned, “and the government must ensure that Muslims are not turned into guinea pigs in this experiment.”
