NSCIA just shut down the religious profiling of Muslims over insecurity

The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs released a statement on Thursday, June 11, marking Democracy Day, and they did not hold back. Their Public Affairs Officer, Abbas Jimoh, directly addressed the persistent attempts to associate Nigerian Muslims with banditry and kidnapping. They called it false, misleading, and grossly unfair to the overwhelming majority of peace-loving Muslims who contribute to national development every single day.

What caught my attention was how they referenced Professor Farooq Kperogi's recent article on the Oyo school kidnapping. The NSCIA said the kidnapping was already horrifying enough without adding falsehoods and opportunistic propaganda. They pointed out that the suspects arrested so far in connection with the Orire Local Government Area incident were not even Fulani, contrary to the initial reports. So the ethnic profiling was wrong on both counts.

I have watched for years how crime in Nigeria gets tagged with religious or ethnic labels the moment a Muslim or a Fulani name appears anywhere near the story. Meanwhile, Muslim communities are themselves victims of terrorism and discrimination. The NSCIA called it double jeopardy. They are right. We cannot keep inflaming tensions with careless narratives when what we need is justice and collaboration. Be honest, have you ever caught yourself assuming a suspect's religion or tribe before the facts came out?