MURIC: Those against brutal flogging of Kwara Arabic students will let their kids go for BBNaija

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), an Islamic rights advocacy group, has tackled those condemning the brutal flogging of some madrasa students in Kwara.

TheCable Lifestyle had reported how some students of Musbaudeen Al Islamy Arabic School, Ganmo in Ifelodun LGA, were subjected to intense beating for attending a birthday party and taking alcohol.

The incident had provoked a wave of backlash on social media, as many Nigerians faulted the handling of the students by the school authorities.

But in a statement on Monday by Ishaq Akintola, its director, MURIC said while the school’s decision is “too harsh”, the actions of the students violated Islamic tenets.

The group said Nigerians criticising the school’s action and parents who endorsed the flogging are those that would encourage their wards to participate in the Big Brother Nigeria (BBNaija) show.

It also urged critics to understand that Nigeria is not like the United Kingdom where children can routinely sue their parents for correcting them.

“While we regard the punishment meted out to the students as too harsh, we maintain that the action of the school authorities should not be judged in isolation. The fact that the parents requested the school to discipline their children must not be ignored,” it read.

“MURIC is also in possession of another video in which the students confessed that they engaged in shameful and unIslamic actions, namely; visiting a club, drinking alcohol, bathing themselves with alcohol, etc. These are horrible acts in which ordinary Muslims must not be involved.

“Arabic schools are the repository of morality and the vault of uprightness. They are the conscience of the Ummah. The offence committed by those students becomes more unacceptable when the actors are students of an Arabic school who are expected to be the epitome of morality and religiosity.”

“The abyss of moral decadence into which the Nigerian society has fallen is responsible for most of the woes facing us in this country today. Nigerians now indulge their children. Family values and norms have been thrown to the winds. Parents allow their children to dictate to them. Instead of parents condemning waywardness in their children and punishing them for it, they now condone and collaborate.

“This is not London where a five-year-old child can call the police to arrest his mum for spanking him and all London police units will come racing to the house, blaring siren. This is not New York where a mother must seek permission from her three-year-old baby before the latter’s nappy can be changed. This is Nigeria, the heartbeat of Africa.

“We commend the parents of those children who instructed the school authorities to punish their children. Posterity will count them among Nigeria’s puritans and disciplinarians. Those who are condemning the parents and the teachers today are those who will gladly encourage their own children and wards to participate in BBNaija’s shameful sex in public.”

The group also called on the public to remain calm until the investigation by the state government into the incident is concluded.

“In the light of the above, we urge Muslims in Kwara State and the general public to allow the Kwara State Government to investigate the incident. The government itself must adopt a middle road. We invite parents and guardians to discipline their children and wards promptly and proportionately,” it added.