TheCable

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has asked the federal high court in Abuja to revoke the permission granted Shamsudeen Bala, son former FCT minister, to travel for lesser hajj.

Nnamdi Dimgba on Wednesday granted Bala, who is standing trial on charges of money laundering to the tune of N1.2 billion, the permission to make the religious trip.

Ishaq Akintola, director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), described the ruling as a “miscarriage of justice and undue indulgence”, noting that the “trial judge has been misled”.

“Permission to travel abroad is usually given to accused persons on medical grounds. Religion is not strong enough as reason for granting an accused person leave to travel outside the country,” he said in a statement released on Thursday.

“This is a flimsy excuse. The accused is not even going for hajj (pilgrimage) but for ‘Umrah which is lesser hajj. It is rather unfortunate that Nigerians engage in reckless abuse of religion and hide behind it to commit atrocities.

He said that hajj is only compulsory once in a lifetime, adding that “it is only hajj officials who should be permitted to go annually”.

“MURIC therefore finds no justification whatsoever for somebody who is on trial for money laundering to seek permission to go on ‘Umrah and for that frivolous request to be granted,” he said.

“It is sheer misplacement of priorities. Although Shamsudeen Bala remains innocent until he is found guilty, it appears the accused is being unduely rewarded for having the temerity to steal Nigeria’s money.

“That N1.2 billion which is in contention will go a long way in ameliorating the sufferings of thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North East or pay the tuition fees of hundreds of indigent students in Nigerian universities. N1 billion is N1 million in one thousand places and we are talking of N1.2 billion, not just N1 billion. It is a fabulous amount of money in a country where the minimum wage is a paltry N18,000 and many Nigerians do not know what they will eat tomorrow.

“Bala should thank Allah that he is not behind bars. He should stay at home and pray to Allah from here. Allah is everywhere. He is near, not far. He is alive, powerful, wonderful. He does not sleep. He hears the cries of His servants whenever they call Him (Qur’an 2:186, 255) .

“We urge the learned judge to revoke the permission to travel granted Bala. We charge religious leaders to stop idolising people whose sources of income are uncertain, people of doubtful character and those facing corruption charges until they are discharged and acquitted.”