Religious extremism and its attendant assault on fundamental rights has birthed in Ilorin, Kwara State. Emboldened by their successful denial of traditionalists the right to celebrate a festival, with the full and unconscionable backing of state power, some religious bigots at the weekend, stormed a shop in the city to harass its female operator. Stakeholders should rise to stop the ill-wind the clerical and secular authorities in Kwara are sowing, to avoid reaping the inevitable storm.

Impunity when unchecked is self-reinforcing. This is playing out in Ilorin. In the trending video, about 15 persons styled ‘alfas’ were seen in the shop reportedly occupied by a lady said to be an adherent of the traditional religion. Amid threats to destroy her goods, they gave the young lady an ultimatum to vacate the premises and the neighbourhood altogether.

Persecution of the traditionalists has been unrelenting. The long arm of oppression has reached Ibadan, Oyo State, where two Isese devotees, Adegbola Abdulazeez, and Ademola Olawoore were arrested several days apart and taken to Ilorin. Their alleged offence was given separately as “defamation” of the Emir of Ilorin, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, and one ‘Alfa Okutagidi.’ Abdulazeez has been charged to court.

The arrogance of the alfas is rooted in state complicity. The traditional authorities represented by the emir, the police, and the state government have tolerated them.

Ahead of a planned three-day festival to celebrate Isese Day, a traditional Yoruba event, some bigots under the banner of an Islamic organisation and claiming the backing of the emirate, had intruded into the home of a local priestess, Omolara Olatunji, and warned her against the planned festival for which participants from across the country and beyond were expected.

Their claim of a supposed religious exclusivity in Ilorin is unconstitutional. The 1999 Constitution not only guarantees freedom of religion, conscience, and assembly, it expressly forbids adoption of any religion as state religion by the federal and state governments. This is binding on all communities. Even if only one person belongs to a particular religion in any community, the supreme law accords him the right to practise his faith long as this does not infringe on any other’s rights.

Instead of the police and the Kwara State Government to intervene to uphold the law, they upheld the prevention of the ceremony citing possible security issues.

Institutions and agents of the state should be upholders and defenders of the law. Officials are expected to protect individual rights and prevent bullies, and non-state actors from trampling on others’ rights, not to join in the oppression. The police and the state institutions have been brazenly doing the latter.

Rather than climb down, Sulu-Gambari’s response to public outrage at the restricting order, has been to cite a threat to security. This is untenable; a retired justice of the Court of Appeal, he ought to promote respect for equality and basic rights under the law.

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has also not been even-handed; his hesitation and eventual circumscribing of the traditionalists are unfair and discriminatory.

The police have been worse, demonstrating the prevailing culture of subjugation of state institutions to narrow interests. As traditionalists, the O’odua Peoples Congress, and other Yoruba cultural groups have alleged, Kwara police have become willing tools of bigots. The Acting Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, should order the state police to maintain the law. The only threat to peace is from those bent on trampling on the inalienable rights of others.

The bigots are playing with fire and ignoring the bitter lessons of contemporary history. “True Peace,” declared Martin Luther King Jnr, “is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” Justice demands equity and freedom of worship.

Countries and communities that encourage religious intolerance often eventually birth Salafist extremists, who come to believe that state authorities are not going far enough and resolve to overthrow them and impose their own stricter version of their faith.

Aggressive conflation of religious extremism with governance turned Pakistan into an incubator of terrorist groups. The South Asia Terrorism Portal lists 44 active terrorist/insurgent groups there in 2023.

Decades of state dalliance with religion, and encouraging intolerance have destabilised Northern Nigeria by facilitating the emergence of Boko Haram, ISWAP, Ansaru and other murderous Salafist groups bent on overthrowing the status quo, believing they can enthrone and better run a theocratic state.

Salafists flock to where they smell extremism as fertile ground for their apocalyptic ideology: unwittingly, the bigots of Ilorin may be magnetising such undesirable infiltrators to Kwara, so far an oasis of peace in the troubled North. South-West states should take note and take proactive measures.

Religious intolerance in a multi-religious polity is always bad news. The security agencies should be professional, alert and advise the federal and state governments accordingly.

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