“Lest I am misunderstood, let me repeat: the insurgents, who delude themselves as Muslims whereas they are nothing more than blood-thirsty, rapacious killers who subscribe to no religion, have recently started targeting Christians with a view to sowing the seed of confusion between the two great religions.”
This is something we hear all the time from leaders all over the world, Muslim and non-Muslim. Meanwhile, Boko Haram and other jihad groups continue to insist not only that they are Muslims, but that they’re operating strictly according to Islamic principles. What is Lai Mohammed doing to sway young Nigerian Muslims who are attracted to Boko Haram away from the group, and to convince them that their understanding of Islam is wrong? Does the Nigerian government have a program to do that? Are mosques in Nigeria doing that?
The answers are Nothing, No, and No. Now, why is that? What are the implications of that? No one dares consider them. But the problem of jihadis recruiting peaceful Muslims by appealing to them on Islamic grounds isn’t just going to disappear if we pretend it isn’t a problem, and keep on telling ourselves that Islam is a religion of peace.
“Lai: Boko Haram targeting Christians to trigger religious war, The Cable, February 27, 2020:
Lai Mohammed, minister of information, says Boko Haram is targeting Christians in an attempt to trigger a religious war in the country.
Recently, the insurgents killed Lawan Andimi, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Michika, Adamawa state, and Ropvil Dalep, a student of the University of Maiduguri and a member of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) among others in attacks perceived to be against Christians.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Mohammed said the insurgents have now realised how divisive religion could be when exploited.
The minister said although Boko Haram has also not stopped attacking Muslims, it seems to now“have a deliberate policy of attacking Christians.”
According to him, this strategy is coming after a renewed onslaught by “our tireless military against Boko Haram and their ISWAP allies in recent times.”
“They have started targeting Christians and Christian villages for a specific reason, which is to trigger a religious war and throw the nation into chaos,” he said.
“Apparently, they have realized how emotive and divisive religion can be, when exploited by unscrupulous persons.
“Lest I am misunderstood, let me repeat: the insurgents, who delude themselves as Muslims whereas they are nothing more than blood-thirsty, rapacious killers who subscribe to no religion, have recently started targeting Christians with a view to sowing the seed of confusion between the two great religions.
“This did not in any way signify that they have stopped attacking Muslims. But they seem to now have a deliberate policy of attacking Christians. Some have misinterpreted this to insinuate a systematic campaign to persecute Christians in Nigeria….
Jayell says
“…..the insurgents, who delude themselves as Muslims whereas they are nothing more than blood-thirsty, rapacious killers who subscribe to no religion……”
This is a little bit confusing. Firstly, if they ‘delude themselves as muslims’ they must therefore be identifying themselves as muslims in the first place, therefore ostensibly subscribing to islam (and NOT ‘no religion’). Secondly, since the Prophet Mohammed is reliably reported as not only effectively having a career as a ‘blood-thirsty, rapacious killer’ himself but inciting others to do likewise, one wonders if this Lai Mohammed character has ever actually read his Qur’an. Or maybe he’s telling porkies.
Michael Copeland says
We can all settle for porkies. After all, they are sacralised.
Keys says
I vote he’s telling porkies trying to spread a false sense that the government supports Christians.
He knows what Mohammad and the Koran say or he wouldn’t be wearing that funny hat.
mortimer says
What planet has Lai Mohammed been living on? (“have recently started targeting Christians”)
“Recently”??? No, how about since before the Biafran War and constantly since then? From 1,000 to 2,000 Christians have been murdered by Muslims every year in the last 30 years.
Is Lai Mohammed unaware of that?
Ray Jarman says
Mortimer,
You are correct and as far back as 2002 a girl who was hiking in Plateau State near the city of Jaws was killed and the peaceful Muslims went on a rampage killing and burning Christian homes simply because this young lady walked onto land belonging to a mosque. There were no markings to apprise anyone of the boundaries of the property and she was wearing pants that exposed part of her legs. Even the Emir of Zamfara State in 2005 voiced his concerns about Muslims in other states of Nigeria being dangerously violent to my wife and me in a very private setting in a residence set aside for him while in Abuja. Like most Nigerian ministers, Lai Mohammed is simply lying because if Buhari were to employ the military properly, Boko Haram and the Fulani animals could be eradicated quickly.
gravenimage says
Lai Mohammed seems to be a Taqiyya artist going way back.
Here he is last year, claiming that Boko Haram had been defeated:
https://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2019/10/21/boko-haram-technically-defeated-lai-mohammed-insists/
He’s been making this ludicrous claim since 2015.
He says: “Fake news and hate speech pose imminent threat to the survival of the nation’s existence”. Apparently Jihad terror is not a problem…
https://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2019/10/21/boko-haram-technically-defeated-lai-mohammed-insists/
Right now, he is enraged at the US adding Nigeria to the list of nations on the travel ban.
Naija says
In Naija we call him LIER MOHAMMED.Please POTUS intervene and save northern Christians.
gravenimage says
Yes–Christian refugees should be exempted from the travel ban.
Larry says
The minister still doesn’t get it. A jihadi is a true believer in the tenets of Islam as laid out in the Koran and hadiths. He’d like to pretend they are not. You won’t attain victory, if you refuse to understand your enemy.
mortimer says
Islam has NOTHING to do with Islam.
Wellington says
Aptly summed up, mortimer. After all, Islamthink is capable of arriving at any absurdity.
Dude says
They will say “Only a few muslims are violent jihadis.”
But similarly: only a few Americans participate in the armed forces.
If these American forces invade Iraq, can the average peace-loving American claim that they had nothing to do with it?
Where’s the logic, Akbar? Oooops, logic is the enemy of Allah, n’est-ce pas.
somehistory says
Sure, and water isn’t wet.
islam is only “great” in that there are so very, very many humans willing to enslave themselves to satan the devil that when one commits terror, he has so many admirers and those who wish to imitate, and even emulate, him.
Not a few, but thousands upon thousands…recall the mobs of them in photos, and the hordes of them crossing borders…millions of them all for islam. That is the only way islam is “great.”
And this one…is lying outright. Our Grand Creator “hates” liars. (see Proverbs 6 for the proof.)
gravenimage says
Nigeria: Minister of Information says Boko Haram “bloodthirsty, rapacious killers who subscribe to no religion”
…………………
So many are eager to assure us that the most pious Muslims are not really Muslim…
This from Lai Mohammed is basically telling Christians they should not consider Islam to be behind these attacks on them.
Here’s more of the same from him a couple of months back:
“The deliberate effort to give religious colouration to the farmers-herders clashes and the Boko Haram insurgency, in particular, has undoubtedly helped to mislead the US into concluding that the government is doing little or nothing to guarantee religious freedom in the country,” said Mohammed.
…
Buhari has essentially said the same thing:
In a bid to ward off talk of religious disputes getting widespread, president Buhari said Nigerians shouldn’t allow terrorists split the populace along religious lines. “We should, under no circumstance, let the terrorists divide us by turning Christians against Muslims because these barbaric killers don’t represent Islam and millions of other law-abiding Muslims around the world,” he said in a statement.
https://qz.com/africa/1776736/islamic-state-kills-11-nigerian-christians-pressure-on-buhari/
Battle says
“Therefore whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them” St Matthew 7:12
Battle says
Where are the Nigerian troops in the Christian villages?
gravenimage says
The government is run by Muslims there now. I don’t think they are doing much to protect their Christian citizens.
somehistory says
He did tell the truth about the fact that Christians are being targeted…although lying about the ‘reason.’
One other truth he told: “nothing more than blood-thirsty, rapacious killers”
jca reid says
Don’t know if this guy is a Muslim or not, Don’t care. This is just Appeasement. Islam & its followers have got to go.