Abuja — The Catholic Church has condemned a militant Muslim sect whose confrontation with security forces this week caused deaths and destruction in the north of the country.
Calm has reportedly returned to the affected region after a heavy military crackdown in which several members of the Boko Haram movement, including the leader Mohammed Yusuf, were killed.
A statement signed by Fr Louis Odudu, Deputy Secretary-General of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, reminded Boko Haram of the need for tolerance.
"We, therefore, call on the leaders of the Boko Haram movement (translated as Western education is sin), currently causing hardship for innocent ordinary citizens in the northern parts of the country, to adopt a creative approach to their religious practice in order to give honour and glory to Almighty God."
The church said that the underlying pillars of any religion include the principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.
"Modern education and modern civilizations do not preclude ardent religious devotion. In fact, it should be underlined that Islam, as a religious practice, from places like Al-Azhar, carried the light of learning through so many centuries and paved the way for Europe's renaissance and enlightenment."
Muslim communities have contributed to the development of the order of algebra, magnetic compass and tools for navigation, the mastery of pens and printing, mastery of the knowledge of diseases and healing technologies, timeless poetry and cherished music, and calligraphy, the church stated.
"We therefore condemn any religious movement that would subvert the progress that has been made in education and technology in Nigeria and at the same time thwart law and order. We condemn a descent to religious fanaticism that would destroy our national peace and stability."
The church also accused Nigerian government of condoning the growth of the Boko Haram movement and called for urgent efforts to control the upsurge of religious militancy in the country. The government should also ensure that the perpetrators of the violence face the full weight of the law.
The church attributed the cause of the Boko Haram uprising and other forms of violence to widespread poverty and urged the government to urgently o address the problem.
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God is Great! He is no respecter of whether one is Christian, Moslem or Atheist. We are all made in His/Her image, including those whose ugly souls created evils of hatred whether by greed, tribalism, racism, etc that cause wars, genocide, fratricide, starvation or oppression. Neither should a government be in the business of killing its own people regardless of how brainless their motives. Therefore, it is useful to warn that if Mr. YarAdua thinks that he can rationalize that since he is using extra-judicial-killings to suppress the brainless intra-Islamic-jihadist killings in the North, to justify a declaration of similar federal government hooliganism to suppress the freedom fighters in the Delta, or south of the Niger River, he will be sadly mistaken because the two events are separate and unequal. One is intra-religious friction that is best solved within the Hausa-Fulani tribes and their Arab-Moslem brethren with whom the southern Nigeria has no affinity except by God as the creator of all humans. As for the Deltan issue, that is a totally different ball game of one ethnic groups (North) attempt to lord it over the other ethnic group which happens to be a minority. WE SHALL NEVER BE ALLOW THAT TO CONTINUE. In a true federal republic, there has to be consent to belong to a commonwealth. One group cannot FORCE another to stay within that unequal, abusive relationship. If Mr. YarAdua attempts to FORCE his way, then he is opening the floodgate or highway out of what is known today as Nigeria because, he is more or less declaring war between the North and the South a war of attrition that the North will certainly be the loser, this time around for which no appeal, even from the Pope can stop. Sometimes, God favors war against the unjust, especially if the minority has been slapped around several times over several decades. Eventually, every Gods creature has a right to self-defense. Wouldn't you?
How can this be? I thought Islam was the "Religion of Peace"? The Koran is a warrior code similar to the old Japanese Bushido. I've read it. Peace, my foot.