he Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has reacted angrily to a video footage making the rounds where a Muslim was said to have been denied employment in the collapsed 21-storey building in Lagos for being a Muslim.
A Muslim engineer identified as Sikiru Adebowale, who went for a job at the site of the building before it collapsed was said to have been turned down by the site developer and MURIC said this was a strong evidence of the alienation of Muslims in Yorubaland.
A video clip on YouTube shows Adebowale, a Yoruba Muslim, who said he had gone for a job interview with the developer of the building but was rejected for being a Yoruba Muslim.
Adebowale, who was said to have left the building few minutes before it collapsed told viewers that the developer had refused to employ him simply because he is a Muslim.
The video have received over a million views on YouTube and MURIC said it suspects that a few people will comprehend the implications therein.
MURIC in a statement signed by its director, Prof Ishaq Akintola and made available to reporters on Friday, congratulated Adebowale for escaping almost certain death.
“That video clip is an undeniable evidence of the alienation, marginalisation, improvisation and persecution of Yoruba Muslims by no other than their fellow Yoruba who happens to be Christians,” MURIC said.
“We urge those who do not believe us to review the video clip and listen to Mr. Sikiru Adebowale as he was being interviewed by a television station.
“He asked the applicant the name of the church he attended and the warmth melted like ice cream in the burning sun when the latter told him that he is a Muslim. As a result of this rejection, the applicant left the site in frustration. But the 21-storey building which was under construction collapsed one hour after he had left the site.
“While we congratulate Mr. Adebowale for escaping almost certain death or severe injuries, MURIC sympathises with the bereaved families, the injured victims and the Lagos State Government over this avoidable tragedy.
“But the truth which must be told is that the sad incident has exposed the sufferings of Yoruba Muslims under their overbearing and selfish Christian overlords who want all political offices, all civil service vacancies, all teaching jobs, all construction works, etc for Christians and Christians alone. The wind has blown and we have seen the ruff of the hen. This is a case of religious apartheid publicly exposed.
“It is interesting to note that the victim is a Yoruba man, ditto for the oppressor”.
The group described this particular incident as the true anatomy of the relationship between Christians and Muslims in the South West, adding that they only tolerate each other at the informal level while they are enemies at the formal level.
MURIC, therefore called on the apex Yoruba social-cultural group, Afenifere, and other notable groups in the South West to quickly react to this viral clip.
Death toll from the 21-storey building at Gérard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State rose to 38 on Thursday while a total of nine persons were rescued alive.
The project owner, Femi Osibona, who was said to have been in the building with some of his friends during the ugly incident, was also found dead on Thursday. At the moment, search operations seem to have slowed down.
