An Islamic rights group, Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has insisted that the suspected suicide bomber caught at the Living Faith Church in Kaduna State on Sunday is a Christian.
DAILY POST reported earlier that the Kaduna State Police Command yesterday announced the arrest of a suspected suicide bomber inside a church in Kaduna State
The Islamic group said it pitched its camp with the Kaduna State Police Command, insisting that the suspect was indeed a Christian by name Nathaniel Samuel
There has been intense controversy over the faith of the man caught attempting to bomb a branch of the Winners Chapel Church, Kaduna.
Although the police gave the suspect’s name as Nathaniel Samuel (a Christian name), a former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode and Rev. Joseph John Hayab, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) argue that the suspect was a Muslim by name Muhammed Sani Nasiru.
MURIC in a statement signed by Professor Ishaq Akintola, the group’s Director and sent to DAILY POST reaffirmed its earlier position that the suspect is a Christian and that his name is actually Nathaniel Samuel.
MURIC said, “The police gave the suspect’s name as Nathaniel Samuel. But for reasons best known to him, Fani-Kayode said the man is not a Christian, that his name is Muhammed Nasiru. What was the basis for that denial? Is Fani-Kayode trying to protect Christianity for Christians or what?
“The chairman of CAN in Kaduna State, Rev. Joseph John Hayab had earlier denied that the suspect is a Christian. He claimed that the suspect’s name was Muhammed Sani Nasiru.
“Fani-Kayode called the incident ‘a setup and a conspiracy to discredit Christianity’. If we may ask, who is conspiring with who? Is he insinuating that the Kaduna Police Command is conspiring with the Muslims? That will be ridiculous.
“But new developments have proven beyond reasonable doubt that Fani-Kayode’s imagination is running wild. First, the suspect himself confessed in the presence of the press that, his name is Nathaniel Samuel’’.
MURIC also claimed that the suspect’s father confirmed his religion as Christianity, and so Fani Kayode had no reason to suggest otherwise.
“But the last nail in the coffin of the doubting Thomases was the testimony of the suspect’s father, Mr. Samuel Ezekiel. He confirmed that his son had never been a Muslim for one day. ‘No! Not even for a single day has he been a Muslim’ said the father.
MURIC called of religious leaders to be ready to expose criminals as only then would Nigeria be rid of crimes.
“Nigeria will be rid of high profile criminals the moment religious leaders decide to expose them. The rate of crime will also reduce drastically if anti-crime sermons come from both the pulpit and the minbar on a weekly basis.
“On a last note, we advise both Rev. Hayab and Fani-Kayode to stop under-estimating the intelligence of Nigerians. People are taking note of what you say and what you do. Chroniclers are piling up the record of events.
