NIGERIA: Muslims in Lagos and Abuja pray for the safe return of over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Islamist militants last month

Record ID: 236684

  • Title: NIGERIA: Muslims in Lagos and Abuja pray for the safe return of over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Islamist militants last month
  • Date: 9th May 2014
  • Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (MAY 9, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF MOSQUE VARIOUS OF MUSLIMS PRAYING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MUSLIM CLERIC, AKEWULERE ARIKEWUYO, SAYING: "They are not a Muslim, they are not fighting for God, they are not fighting for religion, they are fighting for devil, they are fighting for devil. They are fighting for the devil. What is not okay for you, it can be okay for me, that will not make you to take me, kill or to take me away from my people. What is okay for you cannot be okay for me. Take your own and let me take my own." (SOUNDBITE) (English) RESIDENT, RAZAQ AKANBI, SAYING: "We are fellow Muslims, both Hausa Muslim, Yoruba Muslim, and even other Muslims, even pagan does not belong to you, it belongs to Allah. Allah says if that pagan is remaining on the Earth, if you can convince the pagan to be a Muslim, it's a reward to you in heaven. So people that are killing human beings, shedding blood, they are heartless human beings, not to be proud of as a Muslim." VARIOUS OF MUSLIMS PRAYING (SOUNDBITE) (English) STUDENT, HASSAN TAIWO, SAYING: "The children, they are crying every day by day, they are in hunger. He should release them for Allah's sake, he should release them. We can only beg him that he should release those children, about 237 children, he should release them." MUSLIM MAN PRAYING PEOPLE WALKING PAST PEOPLE PRAYING IN MOSQUE ABUJA, NIGERIA (MAY 9, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MUSLIMS PRAYING IN A MOSQUE CHIEF IMAM OF AL-HABIBIYYAH MOSQUE, IMAM FUAD, AT PODIUM MUSLIMS LISTENING FUAD PREACHING MUSLIMS PRAYING PEOPLE GETTING UP TO LEAVE AFTER PRAYERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF IMAM OF AL-HABIBIYYAH MOSQUE, IMAM FUAD, SAYING: "We've seen that this war is not a war against the Christians, it's not a war against the Muslims, it's not a war against any political party, it's a war against Nigeria. And not until we all see that way then we won't get to anywhere, and that's what leads to the efforts that we've also been doing. We have always been putting in place right from this, we've been organising prayers almost every day in the mosques and every Sunday we make sure that we organise a bigger one to cap it every week until, and we will be doing this insha' Allah, until these children are rescued and until also this programme, this crisis is over." EXTERIOR OF MOSQUE SIGN ON EXTERIOR OF MOSQUE
  • Embargoed: 24th May 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVAEOIOCW3JCD8ONHTVJ7ZY8IJ8O
  • Story Text: Muslims across Nigeria prayed on Friday (May 9) for the safe return of over 200 schoolgirls abducted by the militant group Boko Haram last month.
    Militants stormed a secondary school in the village of Chibok, near the Cameroon border, on April 14, and kidnapped the girls, who were taking exams at the time. Fifty have since escaped, but more than 200 remain with the insurgents.
    In Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, Muslim cleric Akewulere Arikewuyo condemned the actions of Boko Haram.
    "They are not a Muslim, they are not fighting for God, they are not fighting for religion, they are fighting for devil, they are fighting for devil. They are fighting for the devil. What is not okay for you, it can be okay for me, that will not make you to take me, kill or to take me away from my people. What is okay for you cannot be okay for me. Take your own and let me take my own," he said.
    Razaq Akanbi, a Lagos resident, said the 'heartless' militants were not acting as Muslims should.
    "We are fellow Muslims, both Hausa Muslim, Yoruba Muslim, and even other Muslims, even pagan does not belong to you, it belongs to Allah. Allah says if that pagan is remaining on the Earth, if you can convince the pagan to be a Muslim, it's a reward to you in heaven. So people that are killing human beings, shedding blood, they are heartless human beings, not to be proud of as a Muslim," he said.
    Boko Haram's struggle for an Islamic state has killed thousands since it erupted in mid-2009 and has destabilised swathes of the northeast of Nigeria, as well as neighbours Cameroon and Niger.
    Amid protests in Nigeria and other countries against the abductions, Lagos student, Hassan Taiwo, appealed to Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau to liberate the girls.
    "The children, they are crying every day by day, they are in hunger. He should release them for Allah's sake, he should release them. We can only beg him that he should release those children, about 237 children, he should release them," he said.
    Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's government has been criticised for its slow response to the hostage crisis.
    As British experts arrived in the country to advise the government on the search, prayers were held at the al-Habibiyyah Mosque in Abuja.
    The mosque's chief imam, Imam Faud, said daily prayers would continue until the girls were released.
    "We've seen that this war is not a war against the Christians, it's not a war against the Muslims, it's not a war against any political party, it's a war against Nigeria. And not until we all see that way then we won't get to anywhere, and that's what leads to the efforts that we've also been doing. We have always been putting in place right from this, we've been organising prayers almost every day in the mosques and every Sunday we make sure that we organise a bigger one to cap it every week until, and we will be doing this insha' Allah, until these children are rescued and until also this programme, this crisis is over," he said.
    On Friday, President Jonathan said he believed the schoolgirls were still in the country and had not been moved to neighbouring Cameroon.
    Until now, Jonathan had said he did not know where the girls were, as the military struggles to maintain security in the turbulent northeast as Boko Haram grows bolder.
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