The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has broken its silence on the ‘Jesus Christ is not God’ banner displayed at the Lekki Central Mosque in Lagos.
The controversial banner went viral recently after a photo of it was shared on social media by citizens who felt it was deliberately done to provoke Christians.
After an outcry on social media, the banner was removed and subsequently replaced with another one which says ‘Allah is the lord of Jesus.’
Addressing the congregation, the Chief Imam of Lekki Central Mosque in Lagos, Ridwanullah Jamiu noted that the banner placed on the fence of the mosque was not intended to provoke anybody.
According to him, all the banners displayed outside the mosque contain Quran and Hadith verses.
He said, “When you come to Lekki Central Mosque, at least you should learn something. You pass by the banners outside, you look here and there, you learn something because Islam treasures knowledge.”
He said after a photo of one of the banners went viral, he “received calls from the government, local government, and area command appealing to us to please remove the banners because of the festive period.”
He said the display of the banners was not to provoke anyone, noting that there’s a difference between propagation of Islam and provocation.
“It was not placed there just yesterday. It has been there for about two months or thereabout. We are peace loving people, we don’t provoke anyone. We only propagate our name,” he said.
Jamiu further stated that nobody can monopolise Jesus because Muslims also have what they believe about him as backed by the Quran which calls him Isah.
“If you don’t believe in Jesus, you are not a Muslim. We are Muslims and anything we believe must be in consonant with the Quran and the Quran says Jesus Christ is not God, he’s a messenger of God. We quoted this verse in the banner. Is there anything wrong if we paste what we believe on our territory to educate our congregation? It’s a verse of the Quran. This is freedom of religion, freedom of speech,” he said
However, reacting to the development, CAN Director on National Issues and Social Welfare, Apostle Commodore Abiola Ayuba said the association will not join issues with those behind the banners, describing them as faceless.
“CAN does not involve in frivolous and annoying things. Whichever mosque it is in Lekki, whoever are the people that own it, they have their names and are also liable under the law. Where the rights of one person end is where another person’s own starts.”
“I do not think CAN would be interested in that kind of controversy. If you put something up that will breach public peace, it is the duty of the police to make sure that it is taken off,” he told The Guardian
Abiola further stated that those behind the banner could be sponsored, adding that “nobody knows who is sponsoring them and for what intent and purpose.”
He said when it is obvious that a body, agency or group is behind an action targeted at annoying Christians or getting them upset to the extent that they will cause trouble, “we have links to responsible government agencies and we’ll file our protest accordingly. Sometimes we just keep silent over some things, especially when they appear very foolish.”
He cited an instance in April during Easter when the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) posted on their X handle that ‘Jesus has paid your debt but not your tax.’
He said CAN responded directly because it was coming from a government agency “and we felt it was done in bad fate and that they won’t dare say that concerning the other faith. Mere mention of the name Muhammad, they will just slaughter you.”
He lamented that a lot of foreign actors are determined to disrupt Nigeria, adding that they are being paid to cause trouble and destabilise the country and also distract the government from governance.
