THE Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has clarified that the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) is not one of the groups that have been identified by the Federal Government as supporters of terrorist activities in the country.
MURIC’s clarification came on the heels of a statement credited to the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, in which he named three groups backing terrorist organisations.
The NSA, on Tuesday in Abuja at the 14th workshop of the League of Ulamas, Preachers and Imams of Sahel Countries, had named three groups backing terrorist organisations as Jama’at Nasr al-Islam Wal Muslimin (JNIM), the Islamic and Muslim Support Group (GSIM) and Islamic State in Grater Sahara (ISGS).
However, MURIC, in a statement on Thursday by its director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, said the Jama’at Nasr al-Islam Wal Muslimin (JNIM) mentioned by the NSA as one of the said groups was not the “well-known” Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) which is headed by the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar.
It said: “JNI is known for promoting peace and mutual understanding among the different faiths and people in the country. It is known for collaborating with both the federal and state governments as well as national and international agencies to organise seminars, workshops and conferences aimed at enlightening Muslims nationwide on programmes like polio vaccination, good governance and responsible citizenry. It will be a huge disservice to mistake such an organisation for a group which is supporting terrorist activities.
“Such a mistake may arise from glaring similarities in nomenclatures as depicted in the allegation made by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno.
“The NSA’s list may cause confusion as a lot of people, including the press, are likely to assume that the organisation mentioned by him is the same as the JNI. We hereby assert clearly, unequivocally and categorically that JNI is not on that terror-promoting groups’ list.
“The name of our JNI is shorter and it stops at ‘al-Islam’ whereas the name on the terror-promoting list is longer and it ends with ‘Muslimin’. Our JNI is Jama’at Nasr al-Islam (JNI) while the name of the group which has been accused of supporting terrorist activities is Jama’at Nasr al-Islam Wal Muslimin (JNIM). The acronyms are also different. The letter ‘M’ makes the difference between the peaceful and law-abiding JNI and JNIM which has been accused of promoting terror.
“We suspect mischief on the part of the JNIM for choosing a nomenclature that can be easily confused with JNI’s name. The choice of that name by the alleged promoters of terrorism was deliberate. It was designed to deceive gullible Nigerians, to unwittingly attract their support, to escape early detection by security agencies and to cheat on the original and popular JNI.
“We advise the NSA to always make a clear distinction whenever names of organisations and individuals are likely to cause confusion in the minds of the public. The NSA’s list has undoubtedly created unintended tension among the populace while some members of the media have sought clarification from Muslim leaders.
“It was this situation that actually informed our clarification. JNI is a peace-loving and law-abiding organisation. It collaborates with federal and state governments as well as national and international agencies for national development. It does not support or promote terrorist activities. Never, not our JNI.”
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