By Yakubu Uba
Mr Abdu Umar, the Commissioner of Police in Borno has urged Islamic clerics to use the period of Ramadan fast to preach unity and peaceful coexistence in the state.
Umar gave the charge during the stakeholders’ meeting to regulate preaching on Tuesday in Maiduguri.
The meeting was conveyed by the Police Command and Department of State Security Service (DSS) in the state.
He said the meeting became necessary to remind preachers of the existing law passed in 2010 by the state government to regulate preaching.
He said the law established the Borno State Islamic Religious Preaching Board, which made it mandatory for preachers to obtain licences from the board before embarking on their activities.
The CP stressed the need for Islamic clerics to used the Ramadan period to preach peace and unity instead of attacking one another based on sectarian differences.
He also urged the media not to allowed themselves be hoodwink by preachers inciting people and creating problem in the state.
Also speaking, the Director of DSS, Mr M.M. Murtala, said the religion of Islam enjoined Muslims to promote peaceful coexistence.
Murtala said the hardship experienced in Borno due to insurgency was enough to teach the people the value of peace.
He reminded the media on the need to ensure that only clerics cleared by the preaching board were allowed to preach in thier medium.
For his part, Mohammed Shettima, Secretary, Borno Islamic Religious Preaching Board, reiterated the readiness of the board to ensure that only certified clerics preach in the state.
In their separate remarks, heads of media organisations, promised to work with all stakeholders to jettison inciting preachings in their programmes.
The News Agency Nigeria (NAN) reports that the preaching law empowered the governor and the board to ban any preacher and preaching in public places capable of causing public disorder or breach of peace in the state. (NAN)
