… Bidmus confirms meeting, Alaran denies
By Ade Kunle, Habeeb Ajibola and Akorede Adewole
THE iWitness NG has authoritatively gathered that a meeting held between the Chief Imam of University of Lagos (UNILAG) Muslim Community, Prof. Murtala Bidmus, and top officials of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN B-Zone) indoor.
It was confirmed that the purpose for holding the meeting, which held on Tuesday, was centred on the current ban on the MSSN-UNILAG branch activities.
It was authoritatively learnt that the MSSN B-Zone was led by the society’s Amir, Mushafau Alaran.
Our correspondent gathered that the B-Zone entourage had no fewer than four members.
The entourage from B-Zone, it was learnt, stormed UNILAG Tuesday morning, and were still on the campus with their guests till 2pm.
When contacted on the telephone, Bidmus confirmed that the meeting held but Alaran denied.
Top officials of the UNILAG Muslim Community (UMC) said they were not aware of the meeting, stating .that Tuesday is a public holiday and most of them are not around.
“It must be a personal or secret meeting among them.I am not aware,” one of the officials who do not want to be named said.
When the MSSN B-Zone entourage arrived, they stopped at the UNILAG Central Mosque and later proceeded to the Islamic Centre.
Abdulhamid Ige, a Muslim postgraduate student, who is allegedly loyal to Bidmus, was also seen with the MSSN B-Zone entourage.
Before the entourage arrived, Bidmus was earlier confirmed to have stormed the university campus in anticipation for the meeting.
Shortly after their arrival, they joined Bidmus at the Islamic Centre, which is a storey building in the UNILAG mosque premises.
It was also learnt that one Mr. AbdulRaheem Basheer later joined the meeting and Dr. Ismail Musa too.
Investigation by one of our correspondents revealed that Musa is the most likely candidate to succeed Bidmus as the Chief Imam of the UMC after his (Bidmus) retirement in the UNILAG in 2017.
Bidmus, Musa and Basheer are confirmed to be lecturers in the Department of Islamic Studies of the University of Lagos.
Also, iWitness NG can authoritatively report that Musa had visited a number of schools among which was Obafemi Awolowo University in a bid to find a suitable model that can be adopted in the MSSN-UNILAG.
Few weeks after consulting the OAU Muslim Community in the company of Dr. Jubril Oyekan, a favourable MSSN group to the OAU Muslim Community and MSSN B-Zone emerged against the existing Salafiyyah-group-controlled-MSSN.
One of our correspondents reports that after observing Jumaat at the OAU Central Mosque during their visit, they lodged at the OAU Conference Centre.
A source close to the meeting held at UNILAG on Tuesday hinted one of our correspondents that the meeting started with an exchange of pleasantries.
The source said Alaran commended and appreciated Bidmus for attending a conference MSSN B-zone held at LASU.
The source said some of the resolutions reached in the meeting included that national MSSN should contact the UNILAG VC, Prof. Rahmon Bello, in favour of the MSSN B-Zone, adding that “they are also planning to write the school management directly so that Bidmus will have something to convince the VC with”.
iWitness NG had exclusively reported that Bidmus pledged during the conference organised for Muslim students by B-Zone at the Lagos State University (LASU) that he would ensure that MSSN-UNILAG is returned to the B-Zone.
He said this at the conference after Alaran had commended him over the banning of the activities of what he described as the “fake MSSN” in the UNILAG.
At the conference, he also faulted Muslims for challenging government to get the right to wear Hijab in public primary and secondary schools.Read more at http://www.iwitness.com.ng/unilag-chief-imam-faults-fight-for-hijab-sharia-law-jumaat-break/
While MSSN Lagos has reportedly asked its members in the UNILAG to exercise patience over the ban, B-Zone has continued to lobby top officials of the UNILAG Muslim Community.
During a meeting held between some Muslim students and officials of the UNILAG Division of Students Affairs (DSA) on Wednesday November 23 rd, the students were told to accept the reviewed bye-law if they want their suspended activities restored.
Recall that during a congress summoned by the university management, majority of the students voted against the reviewed bye-law but their votes were rendered fruitless by Musa, who was the presiding officer.
