Muslim rights group calls incident “provocative” and demands arrest to avert potential religious tensions

By Professor Ishaq Akintola

A faith-based human rights advocacy group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has alerted the security agencies to the emergence of a Christian lady who wears hijab to preach Christianity on the streets and inside buses in Lagos.

MURIC described the development as provocative and nauseating. The group also charged the security agencies to arrest and prosecute the lady in the interest of peace for impersonation and for conduct capable of disturbing public peace.

The alert was raised in a statement issued on Wednesday, 9th July, 2025 by the Executive Director of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

He said:

“We are in possession of three different video clips showing a Christian lady wearing the popular Muslim head cover known as hijab while preaching Christianity. In the first clip, the lady is seen on a Lagos street standing by the roadside and asking passers by to accept Jesus as their lord and saviour.

“In the second video clip the lady is seen inside a commercial bus preaching Christianity while wearing the Muslim hijab. The third clip showed where she boarded a bus after preaching. She had removed her hijab and it remained ordinary scarf on her head.

“The voice of a co-passenger could be heard asking her why she was preaching Christianity while wearing hijab. She responded by saying she was doing it because she heard a voice telling her to do so.

“We strongly condemn the attitude of this lady who preaches Christianity while wearing the Muslim hijab. She is a confusionist. Her actions are provocative, nauseating, shameful and preposterous. She is a danger to the community. With the evidence in our possession, it will be hard for her to successfully defend herself if charged with impersonation, false pretence and conduct likely to cause breach of public peace.

“People who hear voices in their heads and follow instructions dictated from upstairs are dangerous for society. This lady is a menace to law abiding citizens. Her behaviour is capable of causing religious crisis. She is, no doubt, an agent provocateur.

“It is clear that her targets are Muslims and she has decided to use deceit to convert them. This is illegal. Our lady evangelist has violated the law of the land. It is not her preaching that is illegal but she is using false appearance and claiming to be what she is not to deceive people. She manifests overzealousness and desperation. She has crossed the red line.

“MURIC calls on the Lagos Police Command and the State Security Services (DSS) to hunt this lady down. We call for her immediate arrest and prosecution before she can cause any religious riot.

“Lagos State has been peaceful for decades. Successive administrations in the state have succeeded in managing interfaith affairs with wisdom, regular interfaith gatherings and proper monitoring of religious activities with the help of the security agencies. The delicate balance has been stable due to the alertness and commitment of the security agencies. They must rise to the occasion now.

We advise Christian leaders and churches in the state, particularly the Christian Association of Nigeria (Lagos State Chapter) to curb the excesses of their followers. Religious overzealousness is speedily creeping into Christendom in Lagos State.

“Whole neighbourhoods are taken over by Christian preachers as early as 5 am everyday with noisy public address systems for more than two hours. Commuters and their commercial bus drivers are forced to listen to unsolicited preachings everyday as they go to and fro workplaces. These are signs of desperation. They are unnecessary panicky measures in the spiritual realm.

“We urge the Lagos State Government to rekindle its efforts in ensuring environmental sanity in the state. The ban on preaching inside buses should be amplified and enforced. We appeal to CAN to play responsible leadership role in this regard.

“We appeal to Muslims who come across the lady preaching in this manner to leave her alone but to go to the nearest police station to lodge a report. Nobody should take the law into his hands. Besides, we Muslims are the faces of Islam in the country and our faith will be judged according to our behaviour.

“We should also be guided by the hadith of Muhammad the Prophet of Peace, particularly where he said, ‘Exercise patience whenever you are provoked’ (As-sabr ‘inda as-sadmatil-uula’).”