A coalition of Muslim scholars, civil society actors and citizens under the banner of Concerned Muslim Scholars, Civil Society and Citizens for Justice and Peace in Nigeria has condemned what it described as the continued mass killings, abductions and displacements in Northern Nigeria, calling for urgent humanitarian, legal and moral action.
In a statement titled ‘Muslim Response to the Mass Killings in Northern Nigeria: Between Faith, Justice and Survival’, and signed by Prof. Taofiq Abdulazeez of the University of Abuja, the group said it could no longer remain silent in the face of ‘repeated massacres of innocent people across the North-West and North-East, most of whom are Muslims.’
‘Our silence is no longer neutrality; it is complicity before God and history,’ the statement declared.
‘Villages burnt, highways unsafe, farmlands deserted and families scattered,’ the group moaned, describing the situation as a humanitarian catastrophe.
‘Thousands of men, women and children have been massacred. The pain of these killings transcends ethnicity or sect; it is an assault on the sanctity of human life,’ the group said, citing the Qur’anic verse (5:32) that equates the unjust killing of one person with the killing of all humanity.
It lamented that while ‘the North bleeds,’ its suffering is often ‘overshadowed by political noise and selective empathy.’
The statement rejected all forms of violence ‘whether committed in the name of religion, tribe or politics,’ as well as the ‘criminal neglect that allows the continuous slaughter of Muslims in their own communities.’
The group emphasised that every life, ‘Muslim or non-Muslim,’ deserves protection under both divine law and the Nigerian Constitution.
However, it expressed grave concern over what it described as the state’s repeated failure to protect victims or prosecute offenders.
The Muslim scholars outlined a four-point response framework covering humanitarian duty, justice and accountability, intellectual engagement and regional cooperation.
They urged Islamic organisations, wealthy individuals and local communities to provide food, shelter and medical support to displaced persons; establish trauma and education centres for affected children; and sponsor widows and orphans as sadaqah jariyah (continuous charity).
The group demanded an independent and transparent national inquiry, possibly with international participation, into the killings, kidnappings and destruction in Northern Nigeria.
It also called on the government to publish arrest and prosecution records and for the National Assembly to summon security chiefs for public accountability.
Muslim scholars, journalists and academics were urged to counter ‘dangerous narratives that demonise entire ethnic or religious groups as terrorists,’ and to document all attacks with names, locations and patterns to preserve evidence for justice.
The statement called for stronger cross-border cooperation to cut off foreign arms, financing and mercenary networks fuelling violence from the Sahel, urging the international community to treat the crisis as ‘a humanitarian and security emergency, not merely an internal conflict.’
Quoting Qur’anic injunctions and prophetic traditions, the scholars stressed that Islam forbids aggression and vengeance, insisting that the Muslim response must be guided by ‘prophetic justice, not reactive revenge.’
‘Justice is not weakness; it is strength disciplined by divine fear,’ the statement added.
The coalition called on Muslims to combine ‘spiritual jihad – prayer, patience and moral reform – with social jihad – organisation, advocacy and lawful resistance to oppression.’
It also proposed a Northern Muslim Peace and Justice Summit to develop a coordinated response encompassing humanitarian, legal and moral strategies.
‘We refuse to be provoked into chaos or silence. We choose disciplined compassion, documentation and unity,’ the group affirmed.
‘The blood of innocent Muslims in the North cries out for justice, not vengeance; for reform, not despair. We will not surrender our faith to fear, nor our destiny to chaos.
‘And never think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He only delays them for a Day when eyes will stare in horror. (Qur’an 14:42),’ the statement declared.