The Muslim Media Watch Group of Nigeria (MMWG) said that Sharia Law had reduced crimes in nations where it is practised.
It described Sharia Law as an instrument of peace evolved for mankind by God to bring peace and security to all.
Reacting to the controversy trailing the setting up of a Sharia panel in Ekiti State, the group pointed out that : ” Sharia that is entrenched in the Nigerian Constitution is for the whole of Nigeria – it had been in operation even before the colonial masters colonised Nigeria. They came and retained it and was so retained in all our Constitutions since Nigeria’s Independence in 1960.”
It noted that the Sharia Arbitration Panel set-up by Ekiti Muslim community under the umbrella of the state’s branch of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs [NSCIA] would only arbitrate on Muslim family matters for the promotion of peace, stability and family life in the state.
In a statement signed by its national secretary, Dr. Nasir Balogun and deputy coordinator in the Federal Capital Territory, Ustaz Mohammed Azare, the group described as misleading the statement credited to some non-muslim leaders in Ekiti State spreading unfounded rumours about the panel that it is to cause trouble in the state.
It described opposition to the Sharia Law as an act of religious intolerance and fanaticism.
The MMWG said that, ” the panel inaugurated in Ado-Ekiti on Sharia for Muslim family matters has been existing in Osun and Oyo states and other parts of South West for long without any problem”, adding that all patriotic Nigerians must exhibit religious tolerance.
