Far from what the title of this work usually suggests, it is not a story about Palestinians living in Nigeria, nor is it about Nigerians of Palestinian origin. Rather, the title is intended to address Nigerians who suffer from the types of intimidation, oppression, and discrimination that have characterized Palestinian life in their homeland since 1947. In both cases as a price one has to pay for being a Muslim. That is the only “crime” for which Palestinians continue to suffer persecution at the hands of Israelis, while the rest of the world watches unrelentingly as the genocide continues in Gaza.
The story of the Palestinians 70 years ago is the story of a generation (or generations) of people who have been forever denied all the basic rights that are fundamental to human survival. Today, a 70-year-old Palestinian’s definition of peace and personal freedom will almost certainly differ from the meanings outlined in almost every existing dictionary. Convincing Palestinians on their 50th and even 60th birthdays, who have lived most of their lives as victims of war, that humans were not born to fight wars and kill their fellow humans. It won’t be easy to do.
Igbo Muslims in southeast Nigeria deserve to be called Palestinians because their daily experiences are similar to those of Palestinians. Although Palestinians are a Muslim majority in their homeland, Igbo Muslims are a virtual minority in southeastern Nigeria. But the greatest commonality that Palestinians and Nigeria’s Igbo Muslims share is the intolerance they endure at the hands and hearts of people who, in the fairest judgment of man, are religious bigots. .
Sponsored ads
Palestinians have lived in war rather than peace with those who believe that their survival can only be guaranteed by annihilating the entire Palestinian people. Since 1947, there has been onslaught after onslaught, war after war, blockade after blockade of food and medicine. All against the Palestinians. In fact, since the Palestinian leadership accepted a two-state solution at the Arab Summit in Fez, Morocco in 1982, the world has stopped counting the number of UN resolutions on Palestine, as one resolution after another failed.
Muslims from the Aku Ifbe community in Okigwe constituency of Imo State are, by any definition of persecution, “Palestinians” in Nigeria. Ever since Aishat Ahmed Obi embraced Islam, she, her family, and all those who believe and practice Islam in the Aku Ifbe community have never felt peace in their lives again. They suffer harassment from Igbo non-Muslims. It is all because they have accepted to practice the ‘Hausa religion’. For the average non-Muslim Igbo, Islam is the religion practiced (and should be practiced) by the Hausa people of Nigeria. They believe that Islam is an integral part of Hausa culture.
As soon as a fellow Igbo accepts Islam, relatives, friends, and colleagues often band together to persecute him. Igbo Muslims are viewed by non-Muslim Igbos as traitors to the Igbo civilization. After embracing Islam, Igbo Muslims are quickly abandoned by their closest associates and have all the rights constitutionally afforded to them as Nigerian citizens, including employment opportunities at local and state levels. and lose privileges. When governors and even political leaders in southeastern states seek to guarantee the rights of Igbo Muslim groups, they often do so at the risk of political interests.
Aishat Obi, a Muslim who is passionate about dawah (preaching), runs the Dawah and Orphanage Foundation in Okigwe, and runs the Dawah and Orphanage Foundation from a rented palm plantation in Aku Ifbe and another cassava plantation. Funding is provided by the proceeds. She was sometimes kidnapped and released. At one stage, Aishat Obi and her husband were asked to sign an agreement with two conditions if they cared about living peacefully. That is, they will “not practice Islam again” and, secondly, that they will “stop inviting Hausa Muslims to preach Islam in the indigenous Igbo community.” Aisha Obi signed the agreement, probably in reference to the agreement that the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) made with the Makkan infidels at Hudaibiya. But this treaty lived on until it was broken by those who started it.
The latest devastation for Aishat Obi, her husband, her biological children, and the other 25 children she cares for as orphans is that her apartment, the still-under-construction orphanage house, and A mosque was recently set on fire. All located in the old Okigwe Gariki area. Entire lands inhabited by Hausa Muslims from northern Nigeria were set on fire by bigots. This happened after she had previously suffered a complete destruction of her apartment. Currently, neither she nor those who work for her have access to her two farms for fear of the unknown.
Aishat moved to Port Harcourt and lives there temporarily. The series of persecutions she suffers convincingly gives her the option of “escape” from her birthplace to a place where she and her followers can find solace. Governorship is for everyone irrespective of their faith, so this column calls upon Her Excellency Hope Uzodinma, the Governor of Governors in South East Nigeria, to intervene on behalf of this “Palestinian” group in Nigeria. I am asking you to do so. May Allah guide the leaders of the Southeast to protect and preserve the rights of all Muslims in the region, Amin.
