Unknown Gunmen Kidnap Popular Islamic Cleric, Wife In Ogun State

A popular Islamic Cleric, Ustadh AbdulGaniy Jumah, has been reportedly abducted at gunpoint by unknown gunmen at his residence on Fagbemi Street, off Ntabo bus stop, Ijoko, near Sango in Ado-Odo/Ota Local  Government Area of Ogun State, southwest Nigeria.

PMNEWS reports that the Cleric was kidnapped and whisked away alongside his wife Shakirah by suspected soldiers at about 3 a.m. when they were preparing for the mid morning meal, Sahr, in the ongoing Ramadan fasting.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has called for the immediate release of the Islamic scholar and his wife.

In a statement signed by MURIC Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, the group charged Nigerian security agents to produce the Islamic scholar and his wife whose abduction has started creating tension among Muslims in the southwest.

“We remind the security agents that nothing warrants such night invasion since there is no state of emergency in the region. We demand the immediate release of the Muslim couple or their arraignment in court within 48 hours of arrest according to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“We suspect that this may be the beginning of a crackdown on scholars of Islam in Yorubaland in particular and the whole Southern Nigeria in general as part of the silent war on Islam in Western-dominated parts of the world. Our suspicion is informed by the allegation that another Lagos-based Islamic scholar also disappeared last week. The miraculous disappearance of Razaq Gawat, a very popular Lagos-based Islamic socialite and televangelist is yet to be explained since about 14 months ago,” MURIC said.