The Sokoto state government has announced the suspension of the resumption of basic and secondary schools across the state by one week.
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Malam Ibrahim Iya announced this in a statement Sunday in Sokoto.
Iya said the suspension was sequel to the 24-hour curfew earlier declared by the government.
The statement further said Commissioner of Basic and Secondary Education, Dr Bello Guiwa, also directed all public and private schools to resume May 22, for boarding and May 23, for day students.
It said: “However, final year students who are supposed to begin their WAEC examination on Monday, 16th May, 2022, are not affected.
“Parents, teachers, SBMC’s and PTAs are expected to comply with the directive please.”
Also, all corps members serving in the state, especially those in the Sokoto metropolis, have been advised to remain at home due to the 24-hour curfew.
This was contained in a separate statement from the spokesperson of the scheme in the state, Malam Sani Idris, in Sokoto, Sunday.
The statement said: “Arrangements have also been made for the Police and Army patrol vehicles to intensify surveillance in all of the corps members’ locations.
“Management urged corps members to remain calm and law-abiding at all times and also assured them that things would soon return to normalcy in the state.”
Gumi fumes
And in a reaction, a Kaduna based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has said any Muslim who kills a Christian in Nigeria for insulting or blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad (SAW) won’t smell paradise.
Gumi, who spoke on the killing of Deborah Samuel over alleged blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him), said Nigeria is not an Islamic state.
He said Muslims in the country have agreement with people of other faiths to live together peacefully and anyone who kills others on religious guise has committed a grievous sin.
The Islamic scholar lamented in a public lecture at Sultan Bello Mosque in Kaduna.
He said it is unfortunate that some Muslim clerics were quoting verses they don’t understand and telling people to kill whoever insults their religion.
Quoting some Quranic verses and jurisprudence, the cleric said killing a non-Muslim under the guise of blasphemous statement against Prophet Muhammad is not a tenable excuse.
“Allah has told us in the Qur’an that non-Muslims will insult Allah and His Prophet. In fact, it is now the blasphemy will start after the killing of that lady in Sokoto, the insult will increase, not reduce,” he said.
Gumi noted that some Nigerian Muslims with the intent of defending Prophet Muhammad (May peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) should be ashamed of themselves because they are corrupt.
“The best way to go if we want to defend the Prophet is to follow his teachings. We the clerics need to wake up and teach the Muslims their religion. We must leave this state of ignorance, we have turned like animals.
“We the Muslims are not the only ones in this country. We must know that there was nothing the unbelievers did not do to Prophet Muhammad, but he was patient, because he was conscious that if he killed them, the unbelievers he was trying to bring to the fold of Islam will tag him a killer. There are people who are neither Muslims nor Christians in Nigeria, and everyone is trying to win their souls.
“Also, there are people who are not Muslims, whom we are preaching Islam to, so that they can enter the fold of Islam and be salvaged in the hereafter. If we now begin to kill people, they will say it is even from the leader of our faith, Prophet Muhammad that we have learnt it. They will say their religion is a religion of bloodletting. At a time we are trying to draw attention of people to see the beauty of Islam, we are now scaring them away.
“It is unfortunate that, we even see some clerics who are telling people that whoever insults your religion, just kill them. They are quoting verses they don’t understand. There is no one who has the will to kill anyone except through the Islamic justice system. And in doing this, the conditions of such justice must be completed before anyone can be killed,” the Muslim cleric said.
CP patrols Kaduna metropolis
And to forestall possible breakdown of law and order, Kaduna state Commissioner of Police Yekini Ayoku has embarked on an observation patrol around Kaduna metropolis to check the deployment of officers and men, and boost their morale.
The observation patrol follows Saturday’s ban on any religious procession by the state government in the aftermath of the killing and burning of Deborah.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the state Command, ASP Mohammed Jalige, made this known in a terse statement Sunday.
He said the CP commended the residents for the peaceful and harmonious coexistence among them while urging that they continue to co-exist peacefully and remain each other’s brother’s keeper in line with the tenets of the two major religions.
“CP Ayoku commended residents of the state for the existing peace and harmony in the state. He assured members of the public that their safety and security is of paramount importance to the Command and equally urged them to warn their wards against being used to cause mayhem.
“The CP reminded residents on the recent ban on religious protest of any kind, warning that violators would be promptly dealt with in accordance with the laws of the land.
“For the majority of Kaduna state residents who are peace loving, be guaranteed that our men have dominated public spaces and you can go about your lawful activities without fear of any intimidation or harassment from any quarter and to promptly report any suspicious object(s) or person(s) through the designated Command’s emergency contacts viz; 07039675856 and 08075391105 for prompt response,” Jalige said.
