Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Presidency has clarified that it was the criminality being perpetrated by the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) that was proscribed and not the religion being practised by the larger numbers of peaceful and law-abiding Shiites in the country.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement said the proscription was to discourage wanton violence, murder and wilful destruction of public and private property.
On Friday, the government secured an ex-parte court order to proscribe the Islamic group.
The court order for the proscription of the Shiite group was issued by the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.
The presidency explained that contrary to the claim by IMN that it had been banned from practising its religion, President Muhammadu 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 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 authority of the state.”
According the presidency, 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 presidency said it 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 insisted that such criminal behaviour and disregard for rights of others and human life would 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 said it was regrettable 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 wilfully, constituting 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.
“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,” the presidency said.