IMN is an insurgency waiting to happen, says el-Rufai

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, says the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) is an insurgency waiting to happen.

Speaking with journalists on Monday, el-Rufai reiterated that the state did not ban Shi’ites but the IMN group.

He explained that the government could outlaw any society that poses a threat to the security of the state.

“We  cannot ban any religious practice; what we did is to say that IMN is an unlawful society and we derived power to do this under the penal code that was passed in 1963, so it is not a new thing,” he said.

“The governor can declare any organisation an unlawful society if it posses a threat to security, peace and governance of the state and we concluded, after receiving the report of the judicial commission of inquiry that looked into the clash between the IMN and the army, that the IMN causes a threat to the peace and security of Kaduna state.

“We did not ban Shiism, we did not ban Shiites, we did not say they cannot practise their religion because in Kaduna state, there are at least two Shiite organisations that we know.

“There is Alfakalin Foundation and Rasulaazam society, these are Shiites organisations and they are not outlawed because all they do is to preach their brand of Islam and they practice their brand of Islam and they are free to do so. Both of these are registered with corporate affairs commission of Nigeria, they recognised the constitutional order in Nigeria.

“They recognise President Buhari as President of Nigeria. They recognised Nasir el-Rufai as governor of Kaduna state and they obey the laws of Nigeria. They do not carry arms, they do not block public highways, they do not occupy schools.

“The IMN does not recognise the constitution of Nigeria, they do not recognise Buhari as the President of Nigeria, they do not recognise me as governor of Kaduna state because they had  their governor in Tudun Wada; I think he was killed during the clash.

“They have their para military wing, they call them Horras. They train them in violation of our laws. They do not accept that any law in Nigeria applies to them.

“I want to ask you, if  you put all these facts together, what does IMN looks like? IMN looks like an insurgency waiting to happen.”

According to el-Rufai, IMN’s objective is to gather enough followers to effect an Iranian-type Islamic revolution in the country.

“Nigeria is not 100 per cent Muslim that you can do Islamic revolution. It is a recipe for serious crisis. I laugh when some people that are not informed on this subject are sympathetic to him, talking about human rights,” he said.

“What he has in plan for you, you will not have any human rights. Anybody  that tries to say Nigeria will be an Islamic country, do you know how much crisis he is trying to create? That is the agenda.  So let us understand this clearly.

“This IMN is a very serious threat to Nigeria’s sovereignty and stability. We have taken certain measures that have curtailed some of their excesses and we remain opened to talk to their members like any citizen.”