| Taming Fashola |
 By JULIANA EZEOKE
Dealing squarely with the root cause of a crisis while at its teething stage signals the action of Niger State government to avert a replication of the religious crisis that engulfed Borno State and some other states in the North. And there could not have been a better way than to bust an Islamic sect in Beri, Mashegu local government area of the state.
The state government premised its action on the argument that the group’s activities could snowball into a religious crisis in the area if not checked. And Umar Dogo Karfi, leader of the group known as Isla-hudeen, took to his heels, leaving behind his four wives, 15 children as well as 41 members of the group who were citizens of the neighbouring Niger Republic. The members, who were from other surrounding countries, were subsequently deported.
The dislodgement was in adherence to a prior order by the Minna high court, which instructed that the houses of the leaders of the group be demolished. Niger State had earlier filed a legal action against the religious group for crimes allegedly committed by its leaders in the past. Though the alleged atrocities were committed some 20 years ago, the state government was apprehensive of the activities of the group, and it got a court order to flush the sect out of the state.
Niger State will not want to be caught unawares by insurgents’ activities. In the wake of the ethnic violence that rocked Jos, Plateau State in January, the state government, to forestall a spill over of the crisis, deployed anti-riot policemen who embarked on a stop-and-search patrol in major streets and areas within and around the state. Few months ago, the state had dislodged the Darul-Islam sect as well as other Islamic militants. Such precautionary measures followed the bitter lessons learnt during the Boko Haram mayhem in Bauchi State last year that led to the death of Muhammed Yusuf, leader of the Islamic fundamentalist group. The incident claimed several hundreds of lives.
Chima Echerue, a Lagos-based legal practitioner, described the action of the Niger State government as “sensible and a display of security consciousness.” He also enjoined other states to follow suit and be more security conscious. The reason is that if governments and security agencies continue to take things for granted, especially in the name of respecting the people’s freedom of worship, “there could be more threats to the nation’s security and unity.”
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