The management of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi State, has stepped in to regulate the activities of religious groups on campus to avert disputes among different sects and denominations.
   
The Vice Chancellor of ATBU, Prof. Ibrahim Garba, said this yesterday while inaugurating a committee to review a proposed five-point resolution drafted by the Department of State Security (DSS).
   
Recall that there was a controversy over the allocation of a plot of land to the Tijjaniyya Muslim Students Association of Nigeria (TIMSAN) to build their mosque within the campus. The disagreements began on Friday, June 26, 2026, when ATBU Chief Imam, Prof. Mansur Isa Yalwa, and his deputy resigned.    
   
They cited the university’s approval of land for TIMSAN to build a sect-specific mosque, after a Shura (religious leaders) Committee directive barred the group from holding activities in the existing university mosque.
   
To avert an imminent religious crisis, the DSS had invited relevant stakeholders to a meeting while urging all Islamic sects to hold religious activities within the university mosque. It also urged the school to withdraw the allocated land, and the Shura Council and MSSN leadership to be reconstituted to reflect all Muslim sects on campus.
   
Also, it urged the university to appoint a chief Imam and his deputies, and to enforce existing rules guiding religious activities on campus.
   
Prof. Garba tasked the committee with the terms of reference: study the resolutions and advise the management on how to operationalise the recommendations that came from a response of the interaction of various stakeholders in the DSS.
   
Also, the Registrar of the university, Kabiru Aminu, added that the terms of reference of the committee include developing a code of conduct for religious activities in the university.