The Niger State government has banned any form of religious preaching in the state and ordered anyone who wants to preach to obtain a licence.
The Director General of the Niger State Religious Affairs, Umar Farooq, confirmed the ban in a telephone chat on Thursday and said any preacher who wants to preach must obtain a licence.
He disclosed that preachers have between today and the next two months to obtain their licences.
“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 said.
The Chief Imam of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Bashir Yankuzo, who reacted to the ban, said the government cannot stop preaching.
“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 secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Niger state chapter, Raphael Opawoye, in his remarks, said the Christian body is not aware of the ban.
“The Christian Association of Nigeria is not aware of the ban. We shall come up with a statement when we are officially informed,” he said.
An Islamic scholar, Ustaz Hassan, also reacted to the ban, saying, “This law needs to go to the State House of Assembly for proper legislative action.
A Minna-based journalist and Islamic scholar, Uthman Siraja, condemned the ban, saying it is an infringement on religious rights.
“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,” he said.