MUSLIM
RIGHTS CONCERN (MURIC)
هيئة حقوق
المسلمين
Motto:
Dialogue, Not Violence
25th
July, 2026
PRESS
RELEASE:
BUS PREACHING BILL: CAN’S REJECTION IS ADMISSION OF GUILT -
MURIC
A
faith-based civil liberties advocacy group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC),
has identified the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) South West zone as
the sponsor of those who preach inside commercial buses. MURIC based its
conclusion on a statement issued yesterday by CAN in which it expressed
opposition to the FRSC sponsored anti-bus-preaching bill.
In a
statement released to the media on Saturday, 25th July, 2026, the
Executive Director of the Islamic human rights organization said CAN’s
rejection of the bill is an admission of guilt.
He
added:
“The South-West Chairman of CAN, Bishop Barnabas
Akinsanya, issued a statement yesterday, Friday 24th July, 2026 in
which he rejected the bill banning preaching inside commercial buses (https://guardian.ng/news/can-rejects-proposed-ban-on-preaching-inside-vehicles/).
“This
is very disappointing. It is sad to see a parent body toeing the same path of
pervasion taken by its offshoots. By taking this position and by failing to
summon enough courage to guide and correct its erring members, the Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN) has abdicated its rightful status in loco
parentis.
“We are not in any way surprised. In fact we had our
doubts when two Christian groups, the Christian Council of Nigeria and the
Organisation of African Instituted Churches, spoke out during the week. We had
a strong feeling that it was CAN afterall. Now the wind has blown, we have seen
the ruff of the hen. It has always been CAN.
“In our
statement issued on 20th July, 2026 under the captioned ‘Opposition
To Bus-Preaching Bill Exposes Selfish Agenda of Christian Leaders’ we fingered
Christian leaders as those behind bus preaching but we stopped short of
mentioning CAN by name. Yet we knew that this must be one of CAN’s shenanigans
(https://guardian.ng/news/muric-accuses-christian-leaders-of-opposing-frsc-bill-against-preaching-in-buses/).
“We know the real culprit now that CAN has come out openly in
its real nomenclature. CAN is the sponsor, the employer and the enabler of bus
preachers.
But
should brazen recalcitrance overwhelm the rule of law? We may also want to ask
‘Is CAN civilized to have openly embraced bus preaching?’
“CAN
hides under the pretext that ‘the provision could restrict citizens’
constitutional rights’. CAN is talking about the rights of a single preacher to
disturb a large majority of commuters who are inside the bus. Some using the
opportunity to relax, some students going through lecture notes, some
businessmen calculating their next moves, etc.
“Is
the single preacher the only one that has constitutional rights? What of the 17
or more others in the bus whose rights are being encroached upon by the single
preacher? Can the right of the single preacher obliterate those of other
passengers? CAN is standing constitutional right on its head. By the way, must
the bus preacher’s command for all to ‘Close your eyes as we pray in Jesus
Name’ include the driver too?
“The normal scenario inside a commercial bus is that
of about 14 or 18 passengers. The bus preacher is only one person. How can one
person’s rights rank over and above the rights of all the passengers, including
the driver who must be allowed to concentrate.
“We put it to CAN that the correct position of
constitutional right is that one man’s rights stop where the rights of others
begin. It is a well known law principle that personal freedom has limits. Just
like the common saying, You have the right to swing your fist but ‘Your liberty
to swing your fist ends just where my nose begins.’
“It simply means you are free to do as you wish, but
you cannot hurt or bother other people. Yet that is exactly what CAN wants its
bus preacher to do to Nigerians. The preacher is free to preach but in the
specially allotted space, in the church or in assemblies of Christians only.
That is the ideal position. But this religious body wants its preachers to be
above the law, reckless, lawless, uncontrolable, ungovernable! It had better
not be.
“CAN
is inviting chaos. We warn that if this overzealous group has its way, Muslims
in the country who have been silently tolerating their extreme ways will have
no other option than to confront bus preachers who make life unbearable for
them inside commercial buses on a daily basis. Enough is enough.
“If
Christians disallow lawmakers from enacting laws capable of making Nigeria a
land of peace for all, law-abiding civilized citizens who want the best for
this country will rise to the occasion and do the needful. We will defend our
right to decent living, our right to have peace of mind.
“The ideal situation should be that Christians are
free to preach inside Christian evangelical vehicles, not one conveying people
of different faiths. It will be the same with Muslims and traditionalists. But
we all know those two groups do not preach inside commercial buses. Christians
enjoy lording their religion over others. We say no to imposition of one faith
over the other.
“We urge CAN leaders to pay special attention to Titus
2:1-8, ‘But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound
doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in
love, ...’ That is where their leadership role will manifest properly.
“We urge Senate to forge ahead with the bill banning bus
preaching and we call upon President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reject CAN’s attempt
to intimidate the presidency. Nigerians are watching closely. Nigerians are
asking: Which way Nigeria? Is it decency or anarchy?
#CAN
#BusPreachingBill
#WhichWayNigeria
#DecencyOrAnarchy
Professor
Ishaq Akintola,
Founder/Executive
Director,
Muslim
Rights Concern (MURIC).
