31st May, 2024
PRESS RELEASE:
MURIC LAMPOONS LAGOS GOVT FOR ABANDONING COLLAPSED MOSQUE VICTIM IN HOSPITAL, LEGS AMPUTATED
The badly injured leg of one of the victims of the collapsed mosque at Mushin, Lagos, have been amputated. The second leg is due for amputation today. Meanwhile an Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has criticized the Lagos State Government for failing to show concern even after it had been revealed that its bulldozer pulled down the mosque.
This was revealed in a statement issued on Friday, 31st May, 2024 by the Executive Director of the human rights advocacy group, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
The statement reads:
“An anonymous caller informed us on Friday morning that the condition of one of the victims of the Al-Mutmahinat Central Mosque located at Yusuf Street, Papa Ajao, Mushin, Lagos State, which collapsed on Sunday, 26th May, 2024, has deteriorated.
“According to the whistle-blower, the victim’s two legs are in such bad shape that one was amputated yesterday (Thursday 30th May, 2024). The caller also added that the second leg would be cut off today (Friday 31st May). He lamented that no government official has shown up at all since the victim, a young girl by name Naeemat Lasisi, 13 years, was brought to the hospital. She is now lying helpless in the Orthopaedic Ward of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).
“MURIC calls out the Lagos State Government (LASG) for this act of criminal negligence, official irresponsibility and inhuman callousness. LASG bulldozer pulled down the mosque where this little girl was badly injured. Another little girl, Anifat Yusuf, died immediately while about fifteen (15) other worshippers sustained various degrees of injuries. Yet LASG did not deem it fit to empathise with little Naeemat Lasisi.
“We hereby warn LASG to take responsibility over all those who were hospitalized as a result of the collapsed mosque at Mushin. We as an organization do not engage in violence. Our motto is ‘Dialogue, Not Violence’. Neither do we issue threats. But we know our onions and we assure LASG that our action over this issue will speak louder than our voice in view of the government’s lackadaisical attitude.
“MURIC calls on Muslims in Lagos State and all men of conscience, particularly the Lagos Muslim Community and the Joint Muslim Forum of Lagos State to take note of the attitude of the state government on the collapsed mosque and its Muslim victims, both dead and injured.
“We charge conscious Muslims, particularly members of MURIC in Lagos State, to brace up for a prolonged, purposeful yet peaceful agitation on the collapsed mosque and justice for its dead and injured victims. Freedom is not offered on a platter of gold, it is won through struggle and it is those who dare to struggle that dare to win. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.
“We remind LASG that Muslims in the state have suffered enough in its hands. We have been politically marginalized, economically debilitated and socially ostracized and now we are being killed inside our mosques while the state government maintains deadly silence. But Muslims in the state have taken their destiny in their hands and it can no longer be business as usual. The issue of the collapsed Mushin mosque and its dead and injured victims will be diligently pursued using every legitimate means available.”
#MushinCollapsedMosque
#MuslimLivesMatter
#DeceasedAnifatYusuf
#AmputatedNaeematLasisi
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Founder/Executive Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).
