(News Investigators)/ The Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI), on Thursday berated a section of the media over what it called conspiracy of silence on the alleged case of nine Muslim children abducted from Kano and converted to Christianity in Anambra.
The JNI, in a statement issued in Kaduna by its Secretary General, Khalid Aliyu alleged that the case of the children had exposed the media’s conspiracy against Muslims in the country.
According to the JNI, “if the story is the other way round, the lopsided media lords, practitioners, institutions and their sponsors would have stuffed the airwaves and newspaper pages with all sorts of inciting captions.
“The usual conspiracy of silence on such issues which affect Muslims’ rights and dignity in Nigeria is now evident; it’s as if nothing had happened.
“Tribal jingoists and religious bigots would have called for secession and poured all sorts of curses and invectives on Muslims and their religion.
“Allegations and agitations would have drowned everyone listening to the news by now.”
It therefore condemned the silence of the media on the abduction of the Kano children, saying it “is unacceptable, dehumanizing and reprehensible.”
The JNI however commended the police and some media houses for their exceptional professionalism “in uncovering this act of man’s inhumanity perpetrated by these Igbo Christians.”
“We call on all government agencies responsible to fast-track the return and rehabilitation of the abducted kids with their parents and relatives and investigate further the reported cases of hundreds of others in Kano and other Muslim states.”
The JNI demanded that “the perpetrators must be tried and sanctioned appropriately in accordance with the relevant laws.
“We shall keep our eyes and ears open to ensure that justice is done.”
It said the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of JNI, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, had expressed unquantifiable pain and sadness over “the unbelievable inhuman act.”
“Painfully shocking was the desperation of converting these Muslim minors to Christianity and changing their names to Christian names, in order to obliterate their history, lineage and culture.” (NAN)
