The Presidency has accused the of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) popularly known as Shiites of attempting to change the narrative over its proscription to gain sympathy, saying that members of the group have not been banned for practising their religion.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), the presidency maintained that the proscription of the group has nothing to do with banning the larger numbers of peaceful and law-abiding Shiites in the country from practising their religion, instead it was to discourage wanton violence, murder and willful destruction of public and private property.
The Presidency explained that contrary to the claim by IMN that it had been banned from practising its religion, President Buhari’s administration has not banned Shiites from observing their five daily prayers and going to Mecca to perform the Holy pilgrimage.
Their position is blatantly false and deceptive.
The statement said: “The IMN is deliberately changing the narrative in order to gain sympathy and divert the attention of the world from its terrorist activities, including attacking soldiers, killing policemen and a youth corps member, destroying government ambulances and public property, consistently defying the authority of the state.”
The Presidency alleged that the banned organisation was taken over by extremists who didn’t believe in peaceful protests and instead employed violence and arson, driving fear and undermining the rights of others and constituted authority.
The statement added: “The Presidency agrees that the constitution protects freedom of worship, but not to the detriment of the society, especially where such freedom harms others, and breaks law and order.
“The Presidency insists that such criminal behaviour and disregard for rights of others and human life will not be tolerated by any responsible government, explaining that everywhere in the world protesters operate within legal boundaries and conduct themselves peacefully without molesting others, or engaging in murder and killing of security personnel or destroying public and private property.
“The Presidency regrets that despite all efforts by the government and other well-meaning Nigerians to make the IMN militants to see reason and abandon violence, such appeals fell on deaf ears as they killed, maimed and destroyed willfully, constituting a daily nuisance to workers, commuters and other innocent citizens.
“Having defied appeals to operate peacefully, and given their seeming determination to destabilise the country, the government had to act before the situation goes out of control, after admonishing many times over that people should not use religion to perpetuate lawlessness.”
“We are fighting lawlessness and criminality and not pursuing a policy of discrimination against any group,” the Presidency stressed.
“You cannot be in court while at the same time engaging in violent protests, molesting people and inflicting pains on others, which includes taking innocent lives.”