NSCIA rejects House of Reps move to establish Christian court
- The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has warned against establishing Christian courts in the country
- NSCIA says the move should be stopped in the interest of Nigeria
- The council says the courts are a recipe for anarchy in the country
NSCIA secretary-general, Professor Ishaq Oloyede. Photo credit: The Punch
The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has warned that the move to establish Christian courts in the country should be halted.
This was made known by the secretary-general of NSCIA who is also the current registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede.
Oloyede told The Punch the move to establish Christian courts amounts to the height of intolerance by those pushing for the ecclesiastical courts.
His words: “Why not? Let them (Christians) have it (Christian courts); I believe that Muslims will also have Wednesday as a work-free day.
“To me, the demand for Christian courts is not in the interest of the nation. I believe that if because somebody has something, then another person must have it, then Muslims can also ask for Wednesday and not Sunday as a public holiday.
“If you hate Muslims because they have Shariah courts, then they can also hate you because you have Sunday and there will be no end to it.
“People can also demand that they don’t want a Sabbath Day; Muslims don’t have Sabbath Day because they believe that it is Christianity that believes in Sabbath Day and that is why they conceded to Saturday and Sunday.”
Oloyede decried the attitude of those who he described as “modern day Christians’’ saying the founders of Nigeria have been very considerate and sensitive.
“I think those people should be cautioned, not to create a situation that will lead to anarchy,” he said.
He continued: “Our forefathers are not fools; the Christians among them were more Christians than modern-day Christians. The Muslims among them were more Muslims than the modern-day Muslims. Yet, they agree on the principle of give and take and that is why the nation is where it is today.”
A bill to provide for the establishment of Christian courts (the Ecclesiastical Court of Appeal) in Nigeria passed the second reading in the House of Representatives last week.
The bill is sponsored by a House member from Plateau state and a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, Honourable Gyang Dung and eight others.
While presenting the bill during plenary on Tuesday, December 6, Dung said the Ecclesiastical courts would complement the regular courts especially with matters relating to the tenets of the Christian faith, when established.
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