MURIC Northern Wings Greets Christians On End Of Lent
The Northern wing of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has greeted Northern Christians on the occasion of the end of the lent fasting period marking Good Friday.
MURIC called on the Forum of Northern Christians (FNC) also known as the Northern Christian Association (NCA) to prioritise its internal cohesion rather than making some insincere and political remarks.
The call was made in response to a recent statement made by Rev Joseph John Hayab, the Chairman of the Northern Christians, to the Muslim Ummah during the just concluded Eid-al Fitr celebration in which he called for mutual respect, understanding and love among the Nigerian Muslims and Christians.
“MURIC takes this call with a pinch of salt and even goes further to express its reservations and surprise behind Rev. Hayab’s motive for making a statement that is for all intent and purposes hypocritical.”
The observation was made in a statement issued on Thursday, 2nd April, 2026 by the Kano State Chairman of MURIC, Malam Hassan Sani Indabawa, who also doubles as Coordinator, MURIC Northern Wing.
The full statement reads:
“A Christian group known as Forum of Northern Christians (FNC) or Northern Christians Association (NCA) had on 20th March, 2026 released a supposedly goodwill message marking the successful completion of Ramadan fast by Nigerian Muslims. The Northern Christians further advised Nigerian Muslims to ‘continue to foster mutual respect, understanding, and love among all faiths and communities in our beloved nation.’ (https://leadership.ng/northern-christians-greet-muslims-on-eid-el-fitr-urge-unity/). MURIC, however, views this remark as incredulous, quixotic and hypocritical.
“We are quick to express our skepticism on the motive of Rev. Joseph Hayab while the antics of some Christian leadership who were engaged in an incendiary campaign against the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by inviting foreign forces to invade the country ostensibly on the false narrative that there was an ongoing ‘Christian genocide’, is still fresh in our memory.
“It is perplexing to note that while Northern Christians urge unity in the day, they write petitions to the US in the night. Rev. Hayab in particular played a significant role in inciting the American narrative of Christian genocide in Nigeria. He was physically present at the failed joint briefing of both Muslim and Christian leaders with the American delegation on Christian genocide.
“Instead of allowing a joint briefing, the Christian team which was led by Hayab, elected to meet the Americans separately. Only God knows what they told the Americans behind our back. Rev. Hayab cannot deny being present at that event. MURIC’s Executive Director was also there. If Northern Christians were so keen on meeting the Americans separately, how can they start talking about unity and love today?
“Most significant is the leading role played by the largely northern Christians in the hate campaign against Nigerian Muslims. What has the northern Christians got to say on the ignoble role played by their leadership, before imploring the Muslims for ‘understanding, unity and love’?
“Without the leaders, the ordinary Northern Muslims and Christians share mutual love, respect and understanding as demonstrated by the spirit of neighbourliness, tolerance and accommodation across the North in some communities where the Christians form the minority. Their rights are respected, they live in peace and are regarded as bona fide citizens with unfettered access to fundamental rights and privileges.
“Without any equivocation, we strongly assert without any fear of contradiction, the relative peace and harmony being enjoyed by the minority Christians living in Muslim-majority states like Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Nassarawa and Northern Kaduna. One has to juxtapose this set up with the well documented horrendous ethnic cleansing and religious persecution being meted out to minority Muslims in some places like Plateau, Benue and some Southern States.
“This was coming after series of reckless incitements and hate campaigns made by one Reverend Ezekiel Bwede Dachomo, an extremist Christian clergy from Plateau State, notorious for calling for violence and extreme hate against Muslims and Islam. In his unrestrained bigotry, Rev Dachomo had issued a ‘command’ for the Plateau State youths to rise up to what only he and God knows. The reverend is among the foremost northern Christian leaders that passionately called for USA President, Donald Trump, to come and ‘save’ Nigerian Christians. What he says about Islam’s most sacred symbols are unprintable and quite sacrilegious that no liberal person can ever utter such intense, profane blasphemy. In one of his public plea for President Trump, he said, the Nigerian Christians ‘saw Trump as God!’
“There are strong and wide accusations that Christian leaders in Nigeria are often quick to condemn acts of violence against Christians but remain silent or ignore similar acts perpetrated by Christians against Muslims, contradicting the hypocritical call for unity, love and mutual respect.
“Rev Dachomo is not alone in his unpatriotic call for foreign intervention and formenting mischief, he is one of the several northern Christian leaders that alternate their call for understanding, love and mutual respect with discreet employment of mischief to demonise and vilify Nigerian Muslims. Therefore, the least that can be expected from a faith-based group, like the Northern Christians Association (NCA), especially its leadership, is to see a physical demonstration of integrity by highlighting accountability, establishing abilities through deeds rather than empty rhetoric.
“The gang-up against the Muslims by the Nigerian Christian groups brings to the fore the issue of trust, respect and interfaith understanding between the two religious groups. While Nigerian Muslims are in consensus with the Federal government of Nigeria by understanding the spiraling insecurity challenges the country is facing as multi-faceted and complex, affecting all sections of the country. Unfortunately, Northern Christians, especially, are quick to mischievously tag it as religiously inspired and motivated.
“Some northern Christian leaders like Bishop Mathew Hassan Kuka of Sokoto Diocese, Rt Rev Oliver Dashe Daoeme, Bishop of Maiduguri Diocese, Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe of Makurdi Diocese, Rev Fr Remigius Iyhula and Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, INEC Chairman had at various times written to the US, UN, EU and other world bodies falsely claiming genocide against Nigerian Christians while knowing fully well the blatant untruth of their allegations.
“The act of demarketing one’s country — tarnishing its reputation — combined with inviting foreign military action is generally classified under serious national security crimes, most commonly as treason, treasonable felony, or sedition.
“We therefore find it genuinely baffling and incredible how with all these internal contradictions the northern Christian group failed to address these far more serious issues of double standard by its leadership but chose to engage in demagoguery.
“As equal stakeholders in the Nigerian project, we should all emphatically acknowledge the fact that God has destined for us to live as brothers and neighbours in spite of our religious, tribal and social differences. We have lived as Muslims and Christians for millennia and would continue to live for another millennia and therefore we must all genuinely work towards living in peace and mutual respect without engaging in mischief while refraining from making unpatriotic calls for the compromise of Nigeria’s sovereignty.
“The body of Christ must distance itself from the treacherous act of Judas Iscariot on Spy Wednesday. Only thus can the Nigerian interfaith community, particularly NIREC, act in unison.
“In ending our admonition, we strongly call on the Forum of Northern Christians (FNC) to, as a matter of utmost priority, put its house in order, tame its wild members, be patriotic, demonstrate integrity, eschew mischief, uphold sincerity and back words with action by ensuring behaviour match words. Simply put, just walk your talk, please.”
