Leading Muslim Organisations in Nigeria are making bold moves to stop the proposed evacuation of the Zumratul Jamiu Community from the Islamic City.
Situated at Pakuro-Lotto axis, along the popular Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the Islamic City lies between two Christian communities, the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and the Deeper Life Bible Church.
Muslim News reports that there are plans by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Works and Housing to demolish a large number of buildings in the Islamic City over plans to construct an Interchange bridge, a move that had been condemned by the Zumratul Jamiu Community as inhumane and motivated by religious undertones.
Leaders of the group who spoke to Muslim News since the story break on October 9, 2021 said the development is a deliberate attempt to uproot them from the location, as the body language of the two Christian bodies have shown overtime.
The Spiritual Head of the group, Sheikh Bello Issa Olayiwola said they had heard repeatedly from members of the two Christian communities that Islamic City, a settlement built on six acres of land, would soon become history.
They also raised eyebrows at the alleged federal government’s inconsistency and lack of forthrightness toward the project, saying what was communicated to them from inception was a flyover and not an interchange as posited by the Project Supervisor, Engineer Adewale Adebote who spoke to Muslim News on behalf of Federal Comptroller of Works, Lagos.
The spokesman of the group, Ustadh Qaseem Adejare supported his claim with a letter from the Ministry of Works, inviting them to a stakeholder’s meeting on the CONSTRUCTION OF FLYOVER at the Lotto road junction. The meeting was held on Friday, June 14, 2019, and signed by Engr. K.Y Ibrahim, who was formally supervising the project.
Ustadh Adejare also faulted the claim that the community land is sitting on the government’s right of way, saying that, “No state government will grant you Certificate of Occupancy when your parcel of land is on the right of way. The people of Islamic City have their Certificate of Occupancy because they are not sitting on the right of way.”
According to him, “They deliberately marked our facilities and others in order to cast terror into our hearts. They claim to have political powers. Tell them we only have the power of Allah who is our Helper, Our Protector. Allah who supported and assisted Prophet Muhammad (SAW) at the battle of Badr will surely make us gain victory over our enemies In sha Allah. I tell you, there is no enemy that can overcome Islam, they can only shake us. But, mind you, whoever shakes the stump, shakes himself.
“They said we should not shout when they were piercing our body with pin. Now they are stabbing us. How can you describe a person who is stabbing you and continue to say you should not shout? Tell them that a person who stole the hen of the poor has stolen the property of a town crier”, he noted.
Intervention
The move to investigate the matter with a bid to stop the evacuation process is now being championed by the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN), an umbrella body of Muslims in the South West region.
The move is being supported by the Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN); Muslim Public Affairs Centre (MPAC) and Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), among others.
In the heat of the protest by Zumratul Jamiu Community which was first published by Muslim News in October 2021, MULAN revealed its intention to intervene and set up a committee to investigate the matter.
Speaking with Muslim News, MULAN National President, Prof. AbdulQadir Abikan said the committee will also work with other Muslim bodies that have shown interest to support the organisation find a lasting solution to their issue.
According to him, “Shortly after that, the leadership of the Islamic City had submitted their report to the national office of the MULAN as directed. The report was very comprehensive. It revealed how they have been contending with various issues. Their initial Certificate of Occupancy was withdrawn because they did not pay the grant rent, after which they processed another one. We also got the fact that the two Christian groups neighbouring them met them on the land. There were also allegations of encroachment of their lands by one of the Christian groups.”
Prof. Abikan said his organisation is working out some strategies with MUSWEN to resolve the issue.
“Now, it’s not only MULAN that is on the matter. The MUSWEN had also indicated the need for them to intervene. And so, we called a meeting which MULAN participated in. After that meeting, we have identified some strategies to take in attending to the matter. MUSWEN and MULAN are now collaborating on the issue to ensure justice is served to the people of Islamic City,” he added.
For their part, another popular Islamic group, MPAC said they had also reached out to top leaders of the Zumratul Jamiu Community.
“MPAC has met with the contact person as well as the overall leader of the group. We listened attentively to them. They took us round to show us different areas. There have been series of contacts, according to them, that they have had with the Federal Ministry of Works.
“At different times, there have been different versions of the proposal tabled before them. So, they took us through the developments of the story, to the point they are presently. They showed us documents as well to back up some of the things and also authenticate them,” Engr. Disu Kamor, Chairman, MPAC told Muslim News.
Kamor said Zumratul Jamiu members have genuine cause for concern, noting: “I think they have cause for concerns. They have genuine cause to be concerned about the future of their asset as well as the way they have been treated so far. These are the major areas of concern. Personally, from what I saw on the ground, I think the community needs our help in the area of amplifying their concerns.
“It is natural for anybody to demand to be treated respectfully. They have had series of contacts with the government. The first letter written to them, the project stated was flyover. At what point did this change to interchange? There may be genuine reason why they want to upgrade that facility from flyover to an interchange. But there has to be genuine engagement as well to convince them. I’m glad they informed us. MUSWEN is on top of this.”
Kamor also expressed the willingness of MPAC to work with MUSWEN and other groups in solving the matter without evacuation or destruction of property.
“We will have to align with other organisations. MUSWEN is presently assembling an advocacy group. We need to align our thoughts, ideas as well as our action menu along the overall strategy of MUSWEN. We will write formally to MUSWEN to indicate our interest to come on board. If they already have an action plan, we’ll like to be assigned roles. This is our own idea of how we can contribute our quota to the campaign.
“What my group is committed to doing on this issue is that we need to engage the Islamic community and empower them intellectually, not just emotionally. What MPAC can do is to mobilise our own asset to do an area survey of the entire community with drone, and then do a documentary on it. They spoke about the age-long cordial relationship that has existed between them and their neighbors, we want to put that on record. We want to interview people,” he added.
Aregbesola came to the rescue
Following Muslim News series of report on the plight of the Muslims in Islamic City, the only surviving Islamic Community between the two prominent Churches, the Honourable Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Abdul Rauf Aregbeshola has waded into the case and mandated the Nigerian Security and Defence Corps (NSDC) to investigate it, in a bid to find a lasting solutions to the land dispute.
We can reliably confirm that the team from Peace and Conflict Management Department of NSCDC led by Commandant David Ojelabi were in Islamic City on Monday, November 15 for the fact-finding mission in order to advice the Minister of Interior accordingly.
The NSCDC team met with the delegates of MUSWEN, Chairman, MULAN Lagos, Barr. Ajibola Kaka and the Islamic City leadership, where they had a session that lasted for hours.
Ojelabi, who said that the department he headed had solved several land disputes across Nigeria, assured the community that the issue would be solved amicably.
He explained: “We have been sent here by the Minister of Interior on a fact-finding mission and to investigate the dispute between Islamic City and its Christian neighbours; more importantly, find solution to the Islamic City vs FG via the Ministry of Works and Housing over interchange.
Ojelabi said the case remains very important to the Minister, saying that is why he has weighed into it and looking for the possibility of resolving it, so that the Islamic Community will not suffer unjustly. At the end of our findings, we shall report back to him.
In order to avoid the demolition of settlement of historical importance, Islamic City where people have been living peacefully for more than three decades, the MUSWEN team unanimously agreed the settlement should be left alone, while urging the Ministry of Works to look for alternative place for the construction of interchange.
Responding to the synergy and collaboration, the Spiritual Head, Sheikh Olayiwola welcomed moves by Aregbesola and the unwavering support of the Muslim community, appreciating them for their unrelenting effort to settle dispute and maintain peace and justice in the societies.
