The Chief Imam of Apo legislative quarters, Abuja, Shiekh Nuru Khalid, has been suspended by the mosque committee over a sermon he delivered on Friday.
Sheikh Khalid in the sermon flayed the government over its failure to tame the escalating insecurity and killings in the country.
The Imam accused President Muhammadu Buhari of visiting Kaduna to campaign but did not go there to pay a condolence visit over the train attack.
Sheikh Khalid excoriated Buhari for his failure to tackle insecurity following the bombing of the Abuja-Kaduna train with over 1,000 passengers.
The Sheikh said it was odd that the same president who campaigned for votes in Kaduna was yet to visit the state since the bombing that caused several deaths, with scores still missing.
He stressed that Buhari’s constant condemnation of attacks was not enough, adding that at best what the condemnations have achieved was to embolden the bandits.
He, therefore, urged Nigerians to demand better governance from elected officials and in instances where their protection cannot be guaranteed, they should not vote during elections.
In the sermon, the Imam hinted at some measures that the electorate should devise should the authorities fail to protect their lives.
He said, “Nigerian masses should resort to only one term which is – protect our lives, we will come out to vote; let us be killed, we will not come out to vote, since it’s only elections that you people know,” he added.
Mr Khalid’s sermon was met with a heavy sanction as he was immediately suspended from leading prayers at the Apo mosque.
In a statement, the chairman of the mosque committee, Senator Saidu Muhammed Dansadau sent to BBC Hausa Service, said the committee suspended the embattled Imam over his sermon that it deemed ‘inciting public outrage’ and opposed the tenets of Islam.
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The statement read, “I am informing you that you have been suspended from leading prayers in the Apo Legislative Quarters Mosque from today being April 2nd, 2022 until further notice.
“The decision was taken out of the inciting Friday sermon you delivered on April 1st, 2022; where you advised people not to vote come 2023 general elections unless politicians respond to some critical questions.
“You should have advised them to vote out those that transgress the Almighty and breach people’s social contract as well as the state.”
The committee maintained that Sheikh Khalid sermon negated the tenets of Islam.
The committee has immediately appointed Malam Mohammad who will deliver Ramadan Tafsir while Malam Abdullahi will be leading Friday prayers.
However, there’s no reaction from the suspended imam.
Sheikh Khalid has been an avid critic of the government over the escalation of insecurity in Nigeria.
His latest sermon is coming a couple of days following terrorists’ devastating attack on a Kaduna-bound train where a yet-to-be ascertained number of passengers were killed and others abducted.
