JNI Attacks Wike Over Claims Of Rivers Being Christian State
Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs also known as Jama’atul Nasrul Islam, JNI, has faulted remarks by Governor Nyesom Wike that Rivers is a Christian state, saying such remarks were inconsistent with a governor’s Oath of Office.
Speaking in Abuja, Wednesday, Mallam Ibrahim Aselemi, JNI’s spokesman, said: “The leadership of JNI has borne these utterances of the Rivers State governor with philosophical patience; hoping will realise his errors.
“But the latest outburst by the governor has become a source of worry to the Supreme Council because we believe the statements are divisive, Islamophobic, undemocratic, unconstitutional, inconsistent with his Oath of Office. They are, to a large extent, hate speech.”
When our correspondent contacted CAN’s spokesman, Pastor Bayo Oladeji, he declined comments, saying a response to JNI’s allegation of conspiracy of silence on the part of the leadership of the church in Nigeria could heat up the polity unnecessarily.
However, a top Christian cleric, who does not want his name published, said that JNI could equally be considered guilty of a similar conspiracy of silence when it purportedly shied away from criticising the imposition of Sharia law in the North and the lopsided appointments by Northern governors which favour Muslims.
