By Professor Ishaq Akintola

‎‎The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has sent a Save Our Soul (SOS) message to the authorities to rescue the Muslim community of Sukuntuni, Kankiya Local Government area of Katsina State from bandits. According to MURIC, the whole community has fled the area after bandits sent a letter to them.

‎‎This was disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday, 8th April, 2026 by the Executive Director of the human rights organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

‎‎The full details as contained in the press release:

‎‎”We are in possession of a video clip showing a large number of Muslims fleeing their communities in Sukuntuni, Kankiya Local Government area of Katsina State. The affected communities stretch from Kankiya to Musawa, Chuga and Matazu.

“Reports say the raison d’etre for their flight was a letter purportedly sent to them by bandits demanding 700 cows and 1,000 sheep to avoid an invasion. The letter which was received on Monday, 6th April, 2026 gave the Muslims Friday, 10th April as the ultimatum.

‎‎Panic stricken, the whole communities of Muslim residents decided to escape from the area before the Friday deadline. They were seen in their hundreds trekking to nowhere, melancholy, grief-stricken, looking for safe shelter. Our hearts bleed. Who did this to Nigeria?

‎‎MURIC charges President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to give priority to the question of insecurity. As we speak, Borno homes are replete with orphans and widows. The walls of Katsina are falling. Sokoto is reeling from pressure. Rivers of blood flow on the streets of Jos, Makurdi and Lokoja. Lagos still holds its breath and trembles from fear of the unknown.

‎‎According to Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the security and welfare of the Nigerian people shall be the primary purpose of government.

‎‎”Mr. President, sir, you asked for this job and you readily inherited the assets and paraphernalia of government. You cannot avoid the liabilities. They are absolutely yours and the bulk stops at your table.”

‎‎”To the honourable Minister of Defense, we have a duty to interrogate the way and manner you do your job. Muslim communities are bleeding and the Muslim Rights Concern is concerned. We are concerned that thousands of Muslim women wearing hijab are trekking on desolate roads, driven from their ancestral homes. Honouranle Minister, sir, if you minister, minister very well. If you are in charge of defence, defend very well.

‎‎”We call the attention of all and sundry, particularly the pundits of Christian genocide, that the people threatened by bandits in Sukuntuni, Katsina State and consequently driven from their homes are Muslims. So are thousands killed or kidnapped in Borno, Sokoto, Zamfara, etc.

‎‎”Muslims constitute the larger number of victims of terrorism and banditry. The narrative of Christian genocide is sheer myth, a fallacy, a sham. No attacks are targeted at any particular faith. Mosques are attacked just as churches are attacked. Attacks on schools have proved our theory of crowd mentality right. Terrorists prefer to attack large crowds where they stand to reap more. It is sheer criminality. No more, no less.”

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).