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Tag: Imam

  • Nigerian Imam who rescued over 200 Christians wins US award for religious freedom

    The Chief Imam of Nghar Village, Abdullahi Abubakar who protected over 200 villagers during attacks on Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau in June 2018 has emerged one of five International Religious Freedom Award winners, the US State Department announced on Tuesday.
    The award is being given for the first time ever during the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom on Wednesday.

    According to the State Department, the Ministerial aims to reaffirm international commitments to promote religious freedom for all and focus on concrete outcomes that produce durable, positive change.

    “A broad range of stakeholders will convene to discuss challenges, identify concrete ways to combat religious persecution and discrimination, and ensure greater respect for freedom of religion or belief,” the Department noted.

    Recall that the 83-year-old Imam last year made headlines for his act of bravery in the face of death. He single-handedly rescued 262 Berom Christians by hiding them in his mosque and house in June last year when over 400 hoodlums on motorcycles and armed with sophisticated weapons launched a bloody attack on 10 villages in Barkin Ladi, Plateau State.
    They went from community to community on a killing spree and the gruesome attack left 84 people dead.
    However, the swift action taken by the chief imam of the community who hid some Christians helped in reducing the number of causalities.
    TNG reports that the U.S. Mission in Nigeria had earlier honoured Abubakar for his rare act of bravery and kindness.
    The U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington awarded the Chief Imam with Ambassador’s Peacemaker Award for Heroism at an interfaith dialogue organised by the embassy in June in Abuja.
    Symington urged the world to emulate Abubakar’s act of brotherliness which he described as a virtue of kindness to promote global peace.
    The ambassador also advised mankind to love each other and let the idea of one family take the centre stage.
    “Abubakar’s act of brotherliness raised hope of a cohesive society in the face of growing mistrust.
    “Today, there is only one word that matters and that is perhaps, love. Or perhaps, one more word, family.
    “With the lesson of this Imam, Chief Imam, this Village Head, this Deputy Imam, and all of those who brought you this story, is a lesson not just for Nigeria, but for all mankind – one family, one race, one love,” Symington stated at the occasion.

    TNG reports that other IRF award winners include; Sudanese human rights activist Mohamed Yosaif Abdalrahan, Salpy Eskidjian Weiderud of Cyprus, Ivanir dos Santos of the Commission to Combat Religious Intolerance in Brazil, and William and Pascale Warda of the Hammurabi Human Rights Organisation in Iraq which the couple set up in 2013.

  • Killings: Buhari invites Imam who saved 300 Christians for handshake, national honour

    Killings: Buhari invites Imam who saved 300 Christians for handshake, national honour

    President Muhammadu Buhari has instructed Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State to bring the 83-year-old Imam of Nghar village, Gashish District in the Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, Alhaji Abdullahi Abubakar, to Abuja for “a handshake and national honour.”

    Lalong said the President took the decision following reports that the Imam saved about 300 persons on June 24 when suspected Fulani herdsmen invaded about 15 communities in the Barkin Ladi LGA, killing over 200 persons.

    The people, mainly Christians, were said to be fleeing from a neighbouring village in the Barkin Ladi LGA when the Imam hid them in his house and mosque.

    “I hid the women in my personal house and after that, I took the men into the mosque and hid them there,” Imam Abubakar had stated.

    However, the assailants caught up with the Imam, forcefully demanding that he release those who were Christians in the mosque.

    But the cleric said deceived the bandits that all those in the mosque were Muslims and upon hearing this, the attackers left him and continued with their killing elsewhere.

    Lalong unfolded the President’s plan to honour Abubakar in Jos on Monday during the opening ceremony of a three-day peace and security conference with the theme, “The resurgence of violence in Plateau State: Towards a multi-stakeholder partnership for peace and security.”

    The event was organised by the Plateau State Peace Building Agency in collaboration with the United States Institute for Peace, Justice and Security and financed by the US Embassy in Nigeria.

    Lalong said, “The President has told me to bring Imam Abdullahi Abubakar for a hand shake which will be followed by a national honour. I was also preparing what to do for this man. Although he is already in his old age, God knows why he did it at that age for us to study and also know how to maintain peace, not only in Plateau State but in Nigeria in general.

    “What he did not only saved the people of Barkin Ladi LGA, not only Plateau State but I think the whole of this country because 300 lives is not a small number. So, Alhaji Abdullahi Abubakar, only God will reward you for what you have done.

    “We are waiting for that process of meeting the President for a handshake and national honour. Having a handshake with Mr President at the age of 83, I think the man will be happy, even if he is going to his grave, that something has happened in his life.”

    The governor also expressed happiness that the Imam’s gesture happened during his tenure as governor of Plateau State.

    At the event, the Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge de Affaires, US Embassy in Nigeria, David Young, extolled the virtues of the Imam, describing his action as heroic.

    Young said, “Those who work for peace do not belong to one group or another, they are not just Muslims or Christians, they are individuals who give up their lives for goodness and fight evil.

    “This man is a challenge to all of us; think about what you do every day. Do you take risks for peace? Would you put your life on the line to protect people from other communities? Think about what that means to us, to your country and to our world.”

    He said the circle of violence and attacks, reprisals and counter-reprisals had taken horrific tolls on the people of Plateau State which had affected both Muslims and Christians.

    Young also said the killing of innocent people was unacceptable whether in Plateau, Zamfara, Benue, Borno, Delta or Taraba states.

    He also called on the law enforcement agents to “arrest and prosecute criminal actors that do evil,” adding that it was absolutely essential that those arrested be made to properly face charges in court, as bringing a criminal action to justice remained the first step to stop the violence.

    Also speaking, the Gbong Gwom Jos, His Majesty, Jacob Gyang Buba, called on Plateau stakeholders to be very sincere because of the genuineness of the need for peace, “otherwise we will not be able to develop, but will remain a very backward community.”

    The Speaker, Plateau State House of Assembly, Joshua Izang Madaki, represented by his Deputy, Yitmong Shehu Saleh, regretted that the peace that had been enjoyed in the state had been punctured by the recent crisis.

     

  • ‘I saw my zip open by itself’ says Imam who raped 2-yr-old girl

    The High Court sitting in Mukono, Uganda, has sentenced a 63-year-old Imam with 3 wives, for defiling a two-year-old girl.

    Musa Mulo, an Imam at Kibubbu Mosque, was convicted upon his own plea of guilt.

    The state prosecutor, Ms Janat Kitimbo, told court that Imam Mulo sexually tormented the toddler in 2012. Prosecution submitted that on the fateful day, the victim went alone to Mulo’s home in the neighbourhood.

    Mulo grabbed her in his compound and took her into the house where he defiled her and damaged her private parts. The Imam later told her to go back home.

    At the commencement of the trial on Friday, the imam pleaded guilty to defiling the girl. “I carried that child, put her on my laps and I just saw my zip opening by itself,” the imam mused court.

    Justice Ms Margaret Mutonyi observed that Mulo is not fit to be an imam or live in society. She described him as “a dangerous person” who is supposed to be kept away from children. She then sentenced him to life imprisonment.

  • Imam stops angry Muslims from assailing London van suspect

    An imam intervened to stop local residents from beating a man accused of driving into people on Monday outside a London mosque after Ramadan prayers.

    The suspect was yanked from the cab of his van by a furious crowd as he sought to reverse and escape after injuring 10 people in what police said was a deliberate attack on Muslims that was being treated as terrorism.

    The man was being held down, beaten and kicked when Muslim cleric Mohammed Mahmoud stepped in to plead with people just to restrain him until police arrived.

    “We found that a group of people quickly started to collect around him, around the assailant and some tried to hit him either with kicks or punches.

    “ By God’s grace we managed to surround him and to protect him from any harm,’’ Mahmoud said.

    “We managed to extinguish any flames of anger or mob rule that might have taken charge,’’ he told reporters, adding he was acting with “a group of mature brothers’’.

    The suspect had been shouting earlier “I’ve done my bit’’, said Toufik Kacimi, the chief executive of the nearby Muslim Welfare House community centre, who praised the imam’s courage.

    “The imam’s bravery and courage helped calm the immediate situation after the incident and prevented further injuries and potential loss of life,’’ he said.

    If confirmed by authorities as terrorism, this would be the fourth such attack in Britain since March and the third to involve a vehicle driven at pedestrians.

    The suspect was described by police as a 48-year-old white man, who was taken into custody.

    “I’ve just seen sheer pandemonium people on the floor screaming, people bleeding, I’ve seen the guy being held on the floor,’’ Ibn Oman told Reuters at the scene.

    Mahmoud called on the incensed worshippers not to commit a sin during the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

    “The imam came from the mosque and he said, ‘Listen we are fasting, this is Ramadan, we are not supposed to do these kinds of things so please step back,’’’ said Mohammed, a 29-year-old cafe owner who was one of three men who held the suspect down.

    “For that reason this guy is still alive today,’’ he added.

    “He tried to run away but we brought him down, he would’ve died because so many people were punching him,’’ an eyewitness who gave his name as Abdul said.

    There were angrier scenes as police arrived and protected the accused man as he was put into a police vehicle.

    The van had hit people assisting an elderly man who had collapsed, and who later died.

    It was not clear if he died because of the attack

    The attack came over two weeks after three Islamist militants drove into pedestrians on London Bridge and stabbed people at nearby restaurants and bars, killing eight.

    Since then incidents of hate crime have risen, police said.

     

     

    Reuters/NAN

  • Don’t wish Buhari dead, pray for his return – Imam begs Nigerians

    The Chief lmam of lmale, llorin, Alhaji Abdullahi AbdulHammed, has urged Nigerians to intensify prayers for the quick recovery and safe return of President Muhammadu Buhari instead of wishing him dead.

    AbdulHammed, a former lslamic Studies lecturer at the Kwara College of Education, llorin, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Ilorin.

    He condemned insinuations from some Nigerians that Buhari would not return to the country alive, urging such people to desist from what he described as sinful talks.

    “The medical trip of the president is normal. Being a septuagenarian demands a regular medical check-up,” he said.

    He recommended that prayers be offered continually for the nation’s leaders, regardless of their religion, tribe, language and culture.

    He prayed for the quick recovery and safe return of the president to enable him continue his good intention to bring about the total transformation of the country.

    AbdulHammeed particularly praised Buhari’s fight against corruption since his assumption of office, praying God for its logical conclusion.

    “The nation is endowed with all potentials to be great, but corruption, which has reached an alarming stage, is retarding the progress of the country in all sectors of the nation’s economy,” he regretted.

    He appealed to Nigerians to shun destructive tendencies capable of retarding the progress of the nation.