An online discussion has sparked concern within the Yoruba people after a man from Nigeria’s central state of Kogi, who said he identifies more with his Fulani heritage, made alarming remarks directed at the Yoruba people for rejecting Sharia law in southwest Nigeria.
During a recorded X Space discussion titled “No Space for Hate Mongering in Nigeria,” the suspected jihadist who described himself as non-Yoruba and Okun man with a Fulani mother, said: “It’s time for jihad conversation to start.”
The man, who is identified as Abbey on the space, claimed that the rights of Muslims to practice Islam are under threat because the Yoruba people have rejected the implementation of Sharia law in the South West region.
Abbey’s statement was filled with threats and intimidation, particularly directed at Yoruba conservatives.
His words: “When you now have a particular tribe, and I keep saying it, Yoruba tribe fell so horribly. I don’t know where we got it wrong but I am ashamed that I even have traces of Yoruba heritage. When I look at what has happened in the last few hours or few months since the ISP (Independent Sharia Panel) conversation took off.
“It is unfortunate that the people we have even been putting our eyes on as being the most tolerant in terms of religion are very far from it. I say openly here that the Yoruba non-Muslims are the most intolerant human beings in all ramifications.
“I mean not just intolerance against Islam, they are the most intolerant, especially those that tag themselves conservatives. And they have one thing in common, these are people that don’t exist off social media, that is one.
“Secondly, these are people that can’t even point you to their father’s house in the so-called Yoruba land. It is no longer a cruise; it is now very clear that there is an agenda to completely ostracise Muslims and Islam from southwest Nigeria.
“This is where Jihad conversation comes about. For those of you bastards that don’t know the meaning of Jihad, record the conversation, I want to repeat it again. This is now the time that Jihad conversation should be taking place. Your right to practise your religion is being threatened. That is why you are admonished, that is the only thing you should fight.
“You can fight when people are threatening you from practising your religion; that is what is happening now. Your right to practise your religion peacefully is now being threatened. They don’t want you to exercise your right to practise your religion. That is when Jihad conversation should come about. That is why we should even be discussing it; what is Jihad all about?
“If you have state governors giving voices to the online mobs and vagabonds, and people who don’t even have a name or a face. You have state governments, you have Christian traditional rulers also amplifying and giving them voices. Then you should know that you are now at the breaking point.”
The suspected jihadist said he felt sorry for Muslims in Southwest Nigeria, claiming that their plight is not different from that of Palestinians in Gaza amid Israeli occupation.
“You should know that you are now in a situation whereby you are not in any way better than the Palestinians and people in Gaza. The only difference is that while it is foreigners, the Israelis trying to steal the land of the Palestines, your so-called Yorubas are the ones trying to render you as second-class citizens in your own fatherland.
“They are ones that want to ostracise you and your religion simply because they are either too uninformed or the level of their islamophobia cannot just be helped anymore. I would be surprised if we are having a conversation and at the end of the day, we allow people with agenda to come and interject it,” he said.
According to Abbey, the conversation is only setting the stage for what is to come in the coming days and months.
“Like I said, I am not a Yoruba man, I’m an Okun man. I’m not from the southwest; I’m from Kogi State. And as a Muslim, the Sultan speaks for me and represents my interest. So when a group of barbarians in the so-called Yorubaland, southwest Nigeria, the Yoruba nation terrorists and their apologists, when you see the unprintable names that they have been calling the Sultan,” he said.
“This is just a warning. Alaafin of Oyo is not someone that we cannot also drag, the Ooni of Ife is not somebody that we cannot drag. When you decide to be unfortunate and we decide to push back, you now say, ‘Oh, I told you, he is not Yoruba, he is a Fulani slave.’ Yes, I am. My mother is Fulani. In fact, I identify more with my Fulani heritage. So this will be just wetting the ground for what will be happening in the coming months, coming days, and the coming weeks.”
The police could not be reached for comments.
He further asserted that he does not require the votes of the Yoruba people, implying a disregard for their political power and influence.
The suspected jihadist said: “If I ever come to you to ask for your votes, the hell with you and your votes. I don’t need the vote of Lagos, I don’t need the vote of Osun, I don’t even need whatever your so-called Yoruba conservatism has to offer, they are useless to me.
“If I want to contest election, I will contest in Kogi. My Okun people, we don’t discriminate, we are not even Islamophobe.
“I think if we want to have a very decent conversation, I don’t know if it is still a cruise to some people but it has now gone beyond cruise when the lives and religion of a group of people are being threatened on their own soil.
“Some groups of people want to turn their fellow countrymen and tribesmen into second-class citizens in their fatherland because they practise a certain religion. It shouldn’t be taken for a joke; no agenda should even be tolerated.
“My joy is that I am not from the south west and I am not living in the south west and God forbid that I would be in the south west and I would have some people who want to dictate to me on how to practice my religion. It will never happen; I would rather die than succumb to that kind of mental slavery. Again, I can never be from the south west or live in the south west and tolerate what the Muslim Ummah are tolerating in the southwest today and it is gradually spreading.
“You could see what they are doing to the Sultan of Sokoto, the president of the NSCIA (Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs), where you have a bunch of vagabonds, a bunch of sub-literates, untrained, uncircumcised Yoruba nation terrorists and their urchins unleashing all sorts of unprintable names on the person and office of the Sultan simply because he explained his role as the leader of the Muslim Ummah in Nigeria.
“But you do not see that kind of attack when the CAN (Christian Association of Nigeria) president speaks for northern Christians. You will never see any northern question why the CAN president is meddling in the affairs of Hausa Christians, Fulani Christians, Kanuri Christians, Takanda Christians and so on and so forth.”
Abbey’s remarks have been widely denounced as hate speech and a threat to Nigeria’s ethnic and religious harmony.
There have been series of opposition from groups against the implementation of Sharia law in the southwestern region of Nigeria.
Last week, a Yoruba group held a street awareness in the ancient town of Oyo and a press conference , rejecting the introduction of Sharia in the region. Another round of awareness and press conference was held in Ekiti State on Tuesday.
The Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe, on Saturday, ordered the dissolution of the Sharia panel set up at the Central Mosque in Ado Ekiti.
The Ekiti State government had said the existing legal structure in the state doesn’t recognise the Sharia Court or Sharia Arbitration Panel, with the State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Dayo Apata, (SAN) calling for caution after reports stipulating the first public sitting of a Shari’ah Panel in the state which resolved two marriage disputes.
The Ogun State Government also warned against any attempt to establish a Sharia Court in the southwestern state.
The Yoruba Nation Religious Council (YONAREC), a coalition of the Yorùbá Nation Christian Association (YORNCA), Muslim Association of Yorùbá Nation (MAYON), and Imo Oodaiye Orile Ede Yorùbá (IMỌ OODÁIYÉ/IṢẸṢẸ), also rejected the Islamic law.
Traditional leaders in the southwestern region of the country have also warned that any attempt to initiate Sharia law in the region will cause anarchy, division, and instability.
The Yoruba Nation Youths, both at home and the diaspora, also issued a strong warning to the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, against pushing for the establishment of Sharia courts in South-West region of Nigeria.
The United Kingdom (UK) and Europe branch of Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, otherwise known as UK Afenifere strongly rejected the clamour by some Muslims for the establishment of Sharia law in the South-West region.
The group cautioned those clamouring for the establishment of Sharia law in the South-West to immediately desist from such acts to avoid disunity amongst the Yoruba people.
The group said Yoruba people are too intelligent and enlightened to be gaslighted along religious divides.
The group added that the predominantly Yoruba South-West is distinct from the Northern region where Muslims are in the majority.
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