Tag Archives: CLERICS

Cleric, Daughter Arraigned For Distributing Poisoned Snack To Beggars

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A 50-year-old Muslim cleric, Mohammed Yusuf, and daughter, Salamat, 18, were on Tuesday arraigned at a Tinubu Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, for allegedly distributing poisoned ‘akara’, a local snack, to beggars.

The Yusufs, who are facing two charges of conspiracy and attempted murder, were alleged to have inserted needles in the snack before giving them to beggars.

The Prosecuting State Counsel, Barr. Ben Ekundayo, told the court that the defendants committed the offences on August 5 at about 2pm at Offin Street, Balogun, Lagos Island.

He alleged that the man and his daughter carried out the act with intent to endanger the lives of the beggars.

“The Muslim cleric sent his daughter to give the beggars, near the mosque, the bean-cakes, but when one of them (the beggars) opened the bean-cake, he found needles in the middle.

“Other beggars were notified; one of them, who knew the daughter and the school where she worked, led them there and she was apprehended.

“She also led them to her father,” Ekundayo said.

Ekundayo said that the offences contravened Sections 228 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Magistrate, Mr Ade Adefulire, admitted the defendants to bail in the sum of N500, 000, with two sureties each in like sum.

He said that sureties must be blood relations and account owners with a deposit of N100, 000 in their bank accounts.

Adefulire adjourned the case to September 29.

Pray For Better Nigeria, Buhari Tells Clerics

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President Muhammadu Buhari charged Islamic clerics to intensify prayers for a better and progressive Nigeria.

He made the call during breaking of Ramadan fast with religious leaders at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Recalling his last meeting with the scholars during the last Ramadan period in 2015 and similar meetings with Christian clerics before the Ramadan period, the President said the meetings were useful and meaningful as various developmental ideas were offered on how best to move the nation forward.

He said: “I’m very pleased we have actually met. Before the Ramadan I met our Christians brothers, from all over the country and exchange ideas with them.

“I’m very pleased, we realized that this is our problem, the country’s problem is our problem. Nobody will solve it for us. We pray very hard to God. We work very hard and let us continue that way.

“I believe the riches God endows unto Nigeria, we will realize, our children will realize and our great-grandchildren will realize.

“If we have problems, this is the only country we have. I said it more 30 years ago. We quickly go out, we go to pray in Saudi Arabia, we go maybe to other developed countries, but this is home.

“This is where God put us and we have to stay here and pray many times per day for God to guide us so that we can leave a better country to the next generation.”

He urged the religious leaders to continue to preach the virtues of peace, tolerance and understanding among their followers to ensure speedy transformation of the country.

The Chief Imam of Zone 3 Juma’at Mosque, Imam Tajudeen Mohammad, who spoke on behalf of the Islamic clerics, reiterated the determination of the clerics to continue to pray for peace and rapid development of the country.

Credit: Nation

Law Student And Secular Activist Who Was Critical Of Radical Islamists Hacked To Death In Bangladesh

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28 year old Bangladeshi law student and outspoken atheist Nazimuddin Samad was brutally killed in Dhaka on Wednesday, April 6 by attackers wielding machetes, the latest in a series of attacks on secular bloggers and activists in the Muslim majority country.

Syed Nurul Islam, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police to AFP said :

“They hacked his head with a machete. As he fell down, one of them shot him in the head with a pistol from close range. He died on the spot,”

The master’s student of the state-run Jagannath University’s Law Department, who was critical of radical Islamists was killed by suspected Islamist militants in Old Dhaka’s Sutrapur area.

He was attacked by three assailants while walking to his home in Gendaria with another youth after completing classes at the university, near Bahadur Shah Park.
While murdering Samad, the killers shouted Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest), witnesses said. The youth accompanying the victim has been missing since the incident, a police official said.

Nazim, who hailed from Sylhet, was the information and research secretary of Sylhet district unit of Bangabandhu Jatiya Jubo Parishad. He was also an activist of Gonojagoron Moncho’s Sylhet wing.

His friends said Nazim used to campaign for secularism on Facebook and was critical of radical Islamists. A day before the murder, he expressed concerns over the country’s law and order in a Facebook post.

The police cordoned off the crime scene. They recovered a bullet shell from the spot.
Nurul Amin, Assistant Commissioner of Sutrapur division, was quoted as saying that the police went to the spot and found the body in a pool of blood.

Nurul said it was clear that the assailants kept an eye on Nazim’s activities for long.
University Proctor Nur Mohammad said Nazim got admitted to the university two months ago.

“We have informed his family about the murder and are taking detailed information about him,” he said.

Muslim Clerics Gather In Egypt To Counter Extremist Fatwas

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Top Muslim clerics gathered in Egypt on Monday to address extremist religious edicts in the face of an unprecedented threat from Islamic State group jihadists who have declared a “caliphate”.

The muftis — usually the official interpreters of Islam in their countries — are meeting alongside other clerics over two days in Cairo to cope with what the clerics described as a rash of extremist fatwas, or edicts.

“You do not need to be reminded that leniency (in dealing) with fatwas that ex-communicate” Muslims has resulted in “murder and bloodshed,” Ahmed al-Tayyeb, the head of the prestigious Cairo-based Islamic Al-Azhar institution, told the conference.

Read More: yahoo

Clerics Demand Better Governance From Buhari

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Religious clerics have advised the incoming government to put national interest above every other interest and be fair to all Nigerians.

The Deputy Chief Imam of the National Mosque and the Primate of the Anglican Communion, in separate sermons in Abuja, urged the administration of General Muhammadu Buhari to unite Nigeria and avoid policies that are against national interests.

The Primate of the Anglican Communion, Nicholas Okoh, spoke at an assembly of clergymen and the laity on Friday.

He mentioned Nigeria’s international relations with the West as well as the problem of electricity among issues he wants the incoming administration to tackle.

The Deputy Chief Imam, Sheikh Mohammed Kabir’s speech came when Muslims gathered at the National Mosque to offer a special jumaat prayer ahead of the swearing-in on May 29.

He urged the incoming government of Muhammadu Buhari to dispense justice to all.

Both gatherings also prayed for divine guidance to enable the new government to deliver on their promises to Nigerians.

Nigerians expect to witness another civilian to civilian power transition on May 29, 2015.