The group in a statement released by its director, Professor Ishaq Akintola on Thursday, August 19, also said that these Boko Haram insurgents and ISWAP fighters who are surrendering should be resettled and trained invocations that can enable them to cater for themselves and their families in future.

The statement partly read “Boko Haram insurgents and ISWAP fighters who are surrendering should be resettled and trained invocations that can enable them to cater for themselves and their families in future. Quick and meaningful resettlement will encourage the remaining insurgents and fighters to embrace peace. MURIC also appeals to the civilian population in Borno to manifest a spirit of accommodation and integration of remorseful insurgents and fighters. We warn against stigmatization of any sort. Returning fighters should be treated like brothers newly found. What they need is our understanding, cooperation and kindness”

In a statement released by the group’s director Ishaq Akintola, Muslims in the country were asked to adhere to the restrictions on public assembly.
The group which pointed out that Saudi Arabia cancelled all Jumu‘ah prayers and also suspended Umrah for the first time in history, warned all faithfuls against being “more Muslim than Muhammad.”

The statement reads “In spite of government’s efforts at sensitizing the general public on the need to shun gatherings, many Muslims are still calling our office asking us to speak against the ban on public gatherings so that they could observe Jumu‘ah service. Let us make our position clear on this. MURIC will not support any Muslim group or individual found contravening the ban on public assembly because the ban is in the best interest of citizens. It is not targeted at any religious group. Saudi Arabia cancelled all Jumu‘ah prayers. It also suspended ‘Umrah. For the first time in history, nobody is performing tawaaf at the Haram. In Kuwait, adhan (call to prayer) has been changed from ‘Come for prayer’ (haya ala al-salat) to ‘Pray in your houses (soluu fii buyuutikunm). But here in Nigeria we still find a handful of Muslims who insist on conducting Jumu’ah service. Do we want to be more Muslim than Muhammad (peace be upon him)?
“MURIC warns against extremist propensities. We all can see where Boko Haram has taken us. It started from little excesses like this. Islam is a religion of moderation. It is dangerous phenomena like Corona Virus that the Glorious Qur’an warned us against when it said ‘Do not make your hands contribute to your own destruction, but do good for Allah loves those who do good (Wa laa tulquu biaydiikunm ila al-tahlukah, Qur’an 2:195). We Muslims must face reality. The manner of congregational salat inside the mosque has all the likelihoods of infection. We stand shoulder to shoulder and feet to feet. There must be no gap between a worshipper and the man standing next to him. On the contrary, health experts recommend at least one meter between persons in social interaction in order to prevent infection. MURIC urges all Muslims to see government’s instructions on Covid-19 as necessary and beneficial to them. It is therefore in their best interest to cooperate. Zuhr prayers should be offered at home in place of Jumu’ah. The same may be done with the five congregational prayers where the number of those in the mosque is more than 20. However, we strongly advise praying daily salat at home with members of the family as domestic jama’ah.”

In a statement released last night, MURIC president, Professor Ishaq Akintola, said the arrest
of Nathaniel Samuel after attempting to bomb the Sabon Tasha branch of Living Faith church aka Winners chapel, made mockery of the rally organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on the same day.

Read the statement “This arrest is the outcome of our prayers for Allah to expose all those who are behind the bombing of churches. We are not surprised that the suspect happens to be a Christian. We have said it on several occasions that there is a Christian version of Boko Haram. Christians bomb churches and the whole world blame Nigerian Muslims for the atrocity.
“The arrest of Nathaniel Samuel for attempting to bomb this church is not a new development. Victor Moses was arrested on 1st March, 2016 for spying for Boko Haram bombers. He confessed that he carried out surveillance before the bombing of Madalla church in Abuja on 25th December, 2011. It must be noted that for every single arrest there must have been several successful crimes committed. There is no doubt that there are many other Christians warming up somewhere to bomb churches and lay the blame on Muslims. We give kudos to the Kaduna Police Command for this feat. People blame the security agencies for no just cause sometimes. This arrest must have been the outcome of careful planning and prolonged surveillance. Those who handled the operation deserve promotion. But the arrest of a Christian attempting to bomb a church makes mockery of the rally organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The rally was called ostensibly to protest against alleged rising insecurity in the country. But God works in wonderful ways. He exposed another plot by a fellow Christian to bomb a church on the same day that CAN called for the rally. The coincidence is equally divine and it gives the impression that the rally itself was nothing but a hocus pocus. CAN would have exploded immediately in its usual self-righteousness if Nathaniel Samuel had succeeded in bombing the church yesterday. A world press conference would have been held this morning to blame the killing on Muslims. Also, there would have been screaming headlines in newspapers across the country : Boko Haram Bombs Church Again: Hundreds Killed! White House would have called Aso Rock: Why are you killing Christians? This scenario is becoming too ridiculous. It is turning our country into a bundle of contradictions. We say enough is enough. This hypocrisy in articulated religiousity must stop. CAN nurses a false dogma of permanent insecurity, incompetence and persecution. But in reality, Nigeria today is much better than Nigeria in 2015 when the Buhari administration took over. Boko Haram that was controlling 17 local governments at that time has been reduced to a pack of hoodlums hitting and running. Nigerian soldiers who were running and hiding from the insurgents before are now putting the latter on the run. The fact that Boko Haram tactics have diminished to guerrilla warfare cements our hypothesis of a debilitated insurgency. Ditto for kidnappings and armed robbery. There is a gross reduction in the spate of crime but groups like CAN feed fat on misinformation. In a nutshell, MURIC calls on patriotic Nigerians to continue to pray for peace, political stability and economic prosperity. But above all, we call on the security agencies to step up their safety measures. Life is sacred and this country can only make progress in an atmosphere of security. Therefore, the security agencies must be alert to their responsibilities. We charge Nigerians to be extra-vigilant. Our enemies are in our midst.”

In a written petition MURIC said the airing of Big Brother Naija should be shut down immediately.

In a statement issued by its Director , Professor Ishaq Akintola, the group said “We are being forcibly dragged to a world of nudity, shamelessness and open promiscuity. Inmates of BBNaija kiss, romance and engage in sex openly. BBNaija is bohemian, anti – social, crude and immoral. It constitutes a potent danger to every home. BBNaija is satanic. It is unacceptable. Where are our norms and values ? Is it part of African culture to engage in sex in the open? Where are the authorities ? Is the Ministry of Information and Culture sleeping ? Is the National Orientation Agency on sabbatical? Who will protect our children from this despicable onslaught? Who did this to Nigeria? This reality show is dragging our children into a life of moral debauchery . It is robbing them of the last vestiges of honour . It is deleting the word ‘shame’ from their vocabulary . BB Naija has alienated our youth from the elders. A yawning lacuna now exists between the young and the old . Irreversible social crisis looms.”