MUSLIM Rights Concern (MURIC) yesterday rejected the plan by the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Matthew Kukah, to train about 10 million al-majiri children in the north.
The director and founder, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, in a statement yesterday, argued that though the children need help, the intention of a Christian “gospeller” is dubious.Stressing that the idea raises more questions than answers, the group described Kukah’s initiative as a move towards proselytisation, modern colonialism and a potential time bomb.
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His words: “We all agree that something must be done about the al-majiri children. We can welcome ideas from everyone, but the implementation must be in the hands of Muslims in the region. Any other thing will make the intention questionable.“We cannot pretend to be so naïve as to entrust our Muslim children to the hands of Christian gospellers. As far as we are concerned, Kukah’s al-majiri dream is a Trojan horse.
“These children have teachers, even if the system is unconventional. The parents entrusted them to the teachers and learning still takes place somehow. “The devil we know is still better than the one we do not know and we expect Rev. Kukah to know better. Can any Christian community allow an Islamic organisation to take their children away just like that? What is the fate of the children taken from Chibok to an Edo internally-displaced persons (IDPs) centre in 2014?”MURIC warned Northern Muslims, particularly the elders, never to allow it to happen.
