The Niger State government has placed a ban on any form of religious preaching in the state.
The unofficial report of the ban was on Thursday confirmed by the Director General of the Niger State Religious Affairs, Umar Farooq.
“It is true, the State Government has banned preaching. Any preacher who wants to preach must secure a licence between now and the next two months.
“All they need to do is to visit our office, get, and fill out the form. After which, they will have to face a panel that will screen them before they can start preaching,” Farooq told newsmen.
The development has however been met with opposition in some quarters in the state.
“My opinion is that preaching is a command. The government is not paying anyone for doing the job; people are preaching in order to earn the pleasure of God. So, the government cannot dictate who to preach to and who not to preach.
“But at the same time, if there are people who are going out of their way to cause security threats, using abusive words and so on, then government can have control over that in order to maintain peace and security,” the Chief Imam of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Bashir Yankuzo pushed back at it.
“The ban on preaching is an infringement of freedom of worship and religion.
“The best thing for the government to do is to invite and penalise any preacher who incites the public in the cause of his preaching,” a Minna-based journalist and Islamic scholar, Uthman Siraja, echoed similar disapproval.
