Taming inciters

…also published in Daily Trust

The recent widely circulated video clip in which Apostle Johnson Suleiman, Founder and President of Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide is seen inciting his church congregation against Fulani Muslims, and indeed confirming that he had ordered his followers to kill and behead any Fulani man they see around them, is yet another real threat to Nigeria’s already increasingly fragile stability and social harmony, notwithstanding his subsequent and futile attempt to deny making the inciting remarks. 

Apostle Johnson Suleiman

Besides, some other religious clerics e.g. David Oyedepo, Bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide International and Ayo Oritsejafor, President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Bosun Emmanual among others made similar or even more inciting comments on different occasions.
 

Interestingly enough, most, if not all, such religious inciters are recognized and influential Christian clerics, whereas, there is hardly even a neighbourhood-level recognized Muslim cleric anywhere in Nigeria, let alone a prominent Muslim scholar, who makes such dangerously inciting speeches against Christians. Similar provocative incitements being made by the likes of Shakau of Boko Haram and other quacks masquerading as Muslim scholars can’t be taken into consideration in this regard, for they aren’t recognized by the mainstream Muslim communities, in the first place.  Also, just as they operate clandestinely, their relatively extremely few misguided followers among Muslims (if they are indeed Muslims)are faceless.

However, though this is an indisputable fact, yet there are deliberate, malicious and persistent attempts to stereotype Muslims under the pretext of the activities of such few misguided elements among them. Judging by the assertions and insinuations of many non-Muslim politicians, non-Muslim clerics and other non-Muslim public figures in Nigeria, it’s obvious that they practically stereotype Muslims accordingly. They also deny or downplay the seriousness of Muslims’ efforts to tackle religious extremism, especially Muslim scholars’ efforts in this regard, many of whom paid with their lives consequently.

In fact, not only non-Muslims maintain this attitude toward Muslims, as the apparently confused so-called Muslim liberals do also betray similar attitude toward Islam and Muslims. Under the influence of anti-Islamic propaganda, they often effectively sound apologetic when addressing some sensitive religious issues. They always seek to twist the meanings and intendments of many Islamic teachings and values with a view to subjecting them to the principle-free and inconsistent secular standards they have consciously or unconsciously imbibed hook, line, and sinker. For instance, it isn’t uncommon for an individual among them who happens to attend, say, a Juma’at Khutbah, and catches some remarks he rightly or wrongly considers potentially controversial, to enthusiastically and exaggeratedly share it on social media with a view to vilifying the Imam and generating as much vilification as possible against him and Islam as well. Whereas, when the likes of Oyedepo and Oritseja for make unambiguously inciting remarks against Muslims, he never bothers to consult his purported conscience, and even when he reluctantly addresses the issue, he simply makes some vague comments that hardly reflect the gravity of the inciting remarks and their implications. 

Anyway, obviously, the deep-rooted culture of impunity in Nigeria provides tacit immunity to such inciters against prosecution, let alone punishment. For instance, though the Directorate of State Security (DSS) had attempted to arrest Apostle Johnson Suleiman following the emergence of his inciting video clip, his arrest was foiled by Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose who personally turned up at the hotel where the fugitive cleric was staying, led him out of the hotel and indeed took him along back to the Government House where he sheltered him from lawful arrest.

Yet, thereafter, the fugitive cleric defiantly warned the federal government, in a widely-circulated video clip of his interview with some journalists in the Government House, against any attempt to arrest him, threatening that the damage that would befall Nigeria as a result of detaining him for just one day, would take a year to repair. He also claimed that he had churches in 42 countries, and had already alerted his followers out there about the situation, threatening further that Nigerian embassies out there “shall (also) be in trouble”.

Obviously, against the backdrop of this level of impunity in Nigeria, it isn’t realistic to imagine that such inciters could be actually tamed. This, therefore, underscores the urgent need to come up with alternative, effective and, of course, legal measures to tame them. For instance, inasmuch as incitement is already a crime under International Criminal Law, involving the International Criminal Court (ICC) is one of such viable alternatives, notwithstanding the politics and controversies surrounding the Court’s operations. Besides, Apostle Suleiman’s threat to plot attacks on Nigerian embassies in the 42 countries where he claims to have churches, for instance, is a clear threat to embark on terror attacks in many countries around the world, which makes him an international terror mastermind.

To leverage this alternative, the relatively few conscience-motivated civil society organizations and individuals in Nigeria should embark on collecting and documenting detailed instances of any inciting remark likely to trigger organized violence against any particular community in Nigeria, and also engage the services of experienced international lawyers to come up with strong petitions to the ICC against the inciters involved. They should, at the same time, also reach out to some reputable international human right organizations with a view to mobilizing global empathy adequate enough to attract appropriate local and international media attention. If sustained, this will certainly result in the indictment, arrest and eventual prosecution of the inciters, by the ICC. It will also deter other would-be inciters knowing that an international arrest warrant by the ICC will definitely immobilize them before their eventual arrest in Nigeria or elsewhere around the round.