Oyo abduction: Muslim community rejects terrorists’ call for sharia law

The Muslim community in Oyo State has completely distanced itself from the terrorists who recently kidnapped school children and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area.

In a strongly-worded joint statement released by leaders Alhaji Ishaq Sanvni and Alhaji Murisiku Siyanbade, the community made it clear that the criminals do not represent Islam, nor do they have any right to demand the implementation of Sharia law.

Quoting the Holy Qur’an to emphasise that Islam strictly protects innocent human lives, the group condemned the abductors’ attempts to use religious rhetoric to justify their actions. 

They pointed out that legitimate Sharia promotes justice and peace—the exact opposite of kidnapping, extortion, and terrorism.

Meanwhile, the crisis has brought the state’s education system to a complete standstill. Both public and private schools across all 33 local government areas have officially shut their doors in a massive wave of solidarity protests. 

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) have vowed that classrooms will remain empty until the captives are rescued alive.

The shutdown comes after the abductors—who carried out the school raids back on May 15—demanded a hefty ransom, utility vehicles, and the release of two high-profile, detained Ansaru terrorist commanders currently on trial in Abuja. 

While distraught community leaders and parents are pleading for government intervention, security officials maintain that the trial of the captured commanders must follow the rule of law rather than giving in to terrorist blackmail.

The government has gone into stealth mode since one of the abductees was slaughtered by the terrorists a couple of weeks ago.

The horrible act was believed to have been carried out by the terrorists to stop the government from continuing with its strong-arm tactics.

They warned that more of the hostages would be killed if the government continued to use force to free the hostages.

Before then, the state government had issued a statement suggesting that the forest where the bandits were holding the hostages had been surrounded by security operatives.

Since the Mathematics teacher, Michael Oyedokun, was killed, the state officials had stopped providing updates on the activities of security operatives.

There has been no official confirmation of what the demands of the terrorists are, but social media is awash with lots of speculations, including that the bandits asked for a billion naira and the implementation of Sharia Law in Oyo State, among other things.

Read Also: Oyo Assembly rules out negotiation with kidnappers