The Muslim Right Concern (MURIC) has declared that the Islamic fundamentalist group Boko Haram is not fighting for Nigerian Muslims.

Apparently reacting to the attack of a branch of the Deeper Life Bible Church in Gombe, killing six worshippers including the wife of the pastor, Johnson Tauro, and injuring 10 others, the MURIC’s director, Dr Is-haq Akintola, in a statement entitled “Boko Haram: Is it about Muslim grievances?”, condemned  this barbaric aggression.

According to MURIC, the Holy Quran did not preach aggresion.

“Places of worship should be held in reverence. The attack is therefore sacriledgious. We denounce Boko Haram’s violent approach particularly its attacks on rival religious targets,” it said.

It called on Nigerians not to view the satanic acts of Boko Haram as representative of actions of
Nigerian Muslims, saying that this was the handiwork of a few misinformed, misguided elements and disgruntled elements.

MURIC charged security agencies to effectively identify and isolate the Boko Haram sect in order to put an end to its excesses, adding that Boko Haram had become a huge embarrassment for Muslims in the country.

However, it called on stakeholders to ponder over the numerous demands and agitations of law-abiding Muslims over the years, saying that  those demands were legitimate and presented with civility and decorum, but that they were always confronted with tornadoes of threats and blackmail.

It explained that the Nigerian minority elite class (who should know better) always wrongfully and conspiratorially accused Muslims of attempting to Islamize Nigeria whereas Nigeria was already a Christianized country and all the Muslims were asking for is the creation of an equilibrium.

“Successive Nigerian government is neck-deep in this conspiracy of Islamophobia. Government’s deafening silence over Muslim demands gave the impression that there was no hope.

“The average Nigerian Muslim today has become cynical of the system. It is our belief that the frustrations felt by Muslims over the years concerning the open contempt and ridicule which always greeted their legitimate demands led to the emergence of the Boko Haram phenomenon,” it said.

For the avoidance of doubt, MURIC said that some of the demands of Nigerian Muslims over the years included work-free Friday as parity for work-free Sunday which is in favour of Christians only; hijab as part of school uniform for Muslim girls; the teaching of Islamic Religion in the South West as Muslim children are being forced to take Bible Knowledge in public schools.

Others, it said, are introduction of civil Shari’ah in the South West; the banning of preaching inside commercial buses; banning of any loudspeaker noise whose duration is longer than ten minutes in all places of worship;  and approval for female Muslim bankers, nurses, police, to use hijab (Muslim women in hijab are currently being denied employment in many professions in Nigeria) among others.

MURIC opined that although its approach might be wrong, the Boko Haram experience was another dimension of the pent-up anger and frustration felt by Nigerian Muslims.

“Boko Haram may have been expressing its opposition to the status quo in its own way. While condemning Boko Haram’s violent propensity, we believe the time is now ripe for a holistic consideration of the demands of Muslims which have always been swept under the carpet,” the group said.