Boko Haram can’t stop us – Shiite leader

Boko Haram can’t stop us – Shiite leader
By Bashir Bello, Kaduna  /   November 30, 2015 

Reacting to last Friday’s attack on his members while on procession in Kaduna, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria otherwise known as Shi’ite said Boko Haram insurgents cannot wipe out the group in Nigeria.
 Leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria in Kaduna State, Sheikh Mohammed Mukhtar Sahabi, disclosed this while addressing a press conference.
 It would be recalled that a bomb blast disrupted and killed members of the Shiite movement in Kano on Friday which Boko Haram had since claimed responsibility.
 Sheikh Sahabi said the insurgents cannot stop their procession.
 Also reacting to an online report that Boko Haram was set to wipe out Shi’ite in Nigeria, Sheikh Sahabi said his group is not threatened as they will go ahead with their procession from Kaduna to Zaria today.
 According to him, “if you consider this as a threat which will stop you from practicing your religion then you may end up not practicing. These people attack those in churches, mosques, houses, motor parks and market places among others. If we say because they attack people in mosques then it means all mosques will be closed. No more going to the church and market places. Then what is going to be left, everything will stop and that will be the end of the world.
“We have to face the challenge because If Imam Hussain did not face it, we won’t be commemorating or celebrating him as a symbol of resistance to tyranny and operation. So these people who are doing this want to paralyse the whole world. We have taken it as a test from Allah. We don’t see it as a threat that will stop us from our religion.
“We are not worried about the threat. How can we be worried about people who are ghosts? They don’t have houses, schools not to talk of an identity. How can you fear ghosts that don’t even exist? You said Boko is Haram yet you make use of things produced from Boko. So, this shows that it is just a name that is used by some people who are trying to destabilise the nation.
“Be rest assured that not even Boko Haram or Boko Halal will finish or destroy us. People interested in Nigeria’s wealth are responsible for terrorism as they cause chaos and commotion. If not, why is it that these crises are only in areas where you have oil? For instance, Iraq, Syria, Sudan particularly the place they call Dafur and Mali where they have gold and then come to Nigeria where you have oil and gas.
“Why did they choose Sambisa in the North-East?” he stated.
 He also explained why they embark on the procession, saying “The trek is not fabricated and is not done out of religion. The option of trekking to Zaria is symbolic with trekking to Hussainiyyah Baqiyyatullah. It is similar with the option that if you don’t have money to perform hajj you can perform eid-el-fitr in your village.’’