Former Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has urged the Nigerian Muslim community to take responsibility for confronting and sanctioning clerics and preachers who promote teachings that fuel violence and terrorism, insisting that such actions have no basis in Islam.
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Lawan made the call on Tuesday during a plenary session, while speaking on the rising insecurity and violent extremism in parts of the country.
According to him, the responsibility of confronting extremist narratives lies primarily with the Islamic community itself, rather than the government, which he said may not fully understand internal religious dynamics.
“Mr. President, finally, let me say that the Islamic society, or the Islamic community, also has a responsibility here. Those who preach what is not Islam need to be dealt with by the Muslim community,” Lawan said.
He warned that allowing individuals to distort Islamic teachings would only perpetuate violence and instability.
“Because if we allow people to preach what is not contained in the teachings, then we will continue to have this kind of situation,” he added.
The former Senate President explained that his appeal was deliberately directed at Muslims, stressing that adherents of the faith are better positioned to identify and counter dangerous indoctrination.
“That is why I am particularly addressing the Islamic community itself, not the government, because not everybody in government understands what happens within the faith. But we do, those of us who practise it. We should therefore work to ensure that people are protected from being unnecessarily indoctrinated,” he said.
Lawan emphasised that violence and terrorism are fundamentally incompatible with Islamic principles, describing those who engage in such acts as having no place in the religion.
“Those who cause mayhem have no place in Islam. We all know that if you kill one person unjustifiably, it is as if you have killed the whole world. That is the judgment,” he said.
He further rejected any justification for killing on religious grounds, regardless of the victim’s faith.
“In Islam, how can you kill anyone? Whether that person is a Muslim or a non-Muslim, it is never justified. We must therefore ensure that people preach what is right and what is acceptable in the teachings,” Lawan stated.
Concluding his remarks, the former Senate President offered condolences to victims of violence in Kwara State.
“Lastly, I want to send my condolences to the Emir of Kaiama and, of course, all our people in Kaiama,” he said.
Lawan’s comments come amid growing national concern over terrorism, religious extremism and communal violence, with increasing calls for religious leaders and communities to play a more active role in countering radicalisation.
Last Wednesday, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State disclosed that no fewer than 75 local Muslims were brutally massacred in Woro community, Kaiama Local Government Area of the state, after they refused to surrender to terrorists who were preaching what he described as a strange and misguided doctrine.
The governor made this known when he visited Kaiama alongside top service chiefs and members of his cabinet, following a deadly attack that has plunged the community into mourning and fear.
According to AbdulRazaq, the victims were killed in cold blood by the terrorists after standing their ground against the extremists’ attempt to impose their ideology on the peaceful community.
However, according to eyewitness accounts, at least 162 people were killed during the attack.
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