The Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, said its attention has been drawn to the news that Kaduna State Government, in an official Gazette, No.21, declared the IMN an unlawful society.
“At the same time, Governor El-Rufai said his government ‘did not and cannot ban any religion.’ This two-faced comment of government of Kaduna state is not only ambiguous but indeed incongruent with reason, logic, law and sanity,” its spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, said.
According to him, the Islamic Movement is not a society or association or organization, but a global concept.
“Its members are conscious and practicing Muslims, who practice Islam the way it ought to. That is why all its practices and observance are based on beliefs and practices of Islam. It doesn’t need registering to belong or to practice in as much as Islam need not be registered for anyone to believe it and practice it.
“That is why the IMN has no hallmarks of associations such as membership register, membership dues, association logo, letterhead officers, motto and all the characteristics of societies.
“That is why banning IMN is akin to banning our faith or stopping us from practicing Islamic religion the way we understand it, which KDSG itself admittedly affirmed it has no right to do. To claim otherwise is incongruous.
“Elrufai’s twisted imagination seeks to mischievously label IMN as violent. This is contrary to evidence anywhere anytime. Only recently, a report by a crisis monitoring group, listed 18 new armed groups that sprang up in Nigeria in the last 17 months, with many of them involved in the killings and kidnap in Kaduna. Not only was IMN not listed, but Governor Elrufai has not turned his attention to those by banning them.
“This ban order is nothing but the portrayal of Kaduna state government as intolerant of religious minorities, and if allowed to stand unchallenged by the good people of Kaduna state, it will lead to a ban on other religious minorities, especially Christians and the Muslims following the Sufi order.
“At the same time, Governor El-Rufai said his government ‘did not and cannot ban any religion.’ This two-faced comment of government of Kaduna state is not only ambiguous but indeed incongruent with reason, logic, law and sanity,” its spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, said.
According to him, the Islamic Movement is not a society or association or organization, but a global concept.
“Its members are conscious and practicing Muslims, who practice Islam the way it ought to. That is why all its practices and observance are based on beliefs and practices of Islam. It doesn’t need registering to belong or to practice in as much as Islam need not be registered for anyone to believe it and practice it.
“That is why the IMN has no hallmarks of associations such as membership register, membership dues, association logo, letterhead officers, motto and all the characteristics of societies.
“That is why banning IMN is akin to banning our faith or stopping us from practicing Islamic religion the way we understand it, which KDSG itself admittedly affirmed it has no right to do. To claim otherwise is incongruous.
“Elrufai’s twisted imagination seeks to mischievously label IMN as violent. This is contrary to evidence anywhere anytime. Only recently, a report by a crisis monitoring group, listed 18 new armed groups that sprang up in Nigeria in the last 17 months, with many of them involved in the killings and kidnap in Kaduna. Not only was IMN not listed, but Governor Elrufai has not turned his attention to those by banning them.
“This ban order is nothing but the portrayal of Kaduna state government as intolerant of religious minorities, and if allowed to stand unchallenged by the good people of Kaduna state, it will lead to a ban on other religious minorities, especially Christians and the Muslims following the Sufi order.
