The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at says looters of public funds may incur the wrath of God if they fail to return the stolen money to the government’s coffers.

It gave the position in Lagos as it commenced activities to mark its 100 years of existence in Nigeria and 127 years of the group’s establishment in the world.

The Head of the group in Nigeria, Dr. Mashuud Fashola, who addressed a press conference in Lagos on Thursday, spoke against the backdrop of the revelations linking many top politicians to the $2.1bn arms deal allegedly diverted by the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, during the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan.


 
Fashola warned those he called “self centered Nigerians who plundered the nation’s resources of the wrath of God, if they do not return the stolen commonwealth.”

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his courage to fight corruption and declared the support of the Ahmadiyyah Muslims of Nigeria to ensure the success of the crusade.

Fashola expressed appreciation to God for the growth of the Islamic organisation in Nigeria since 1916 when it was introduced in the country.

Similarly, a member of Nigeria Inter-religious Council, Dr. Saheed Timehin, also warned those calling members of the insurgent group, Boko Haram, Muslims to stop attaching them with the religion.

Timehin, who also spoke at the press conference, said, “That Boko Haram members speak Arabic doesn’t mean they are Muslims; Arabic is a language.”

He added that “when the United States said Nigeria government was not sincere in fighting insurgents then, we thought they didn’t want to help but with the Dasuki arms-gate saga, it shows they know what they were talking about.”

The Missionary in Charge, Ahmadiyyah Muslim, Abdul-Khalique Sahib, prayed for peaceful coexistence in Nigeria and the current efforts to combat the Lassa fever epidemic.

The statement recalled that “from initial establishment of the Jama’at in Lagos Island in 1916, we spread in the early 1920s to the North, middle-Belt, West and East, having 49 circuits (regional zones) across all parts of Nigeria.”

It listed some of the activities lined up for the celebration as the national peace symposium; the founders’ day; free medical camps; tree planting across Nigeria; the establishment of more hospitals, farm settlements, educational institutions; Ahmadi Youths All Africa Games and the inauguration of mosques in Ibadan, Calabar and Kano.