‎An Islamic human rights group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has accused Christian leaders in Nigeria of pursuing a selfish agenda for opposing the FRSC bill banning preaching inside buses.
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‎In a statement issued by the Executive Director of the civil liberties group, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Monday, July 20, 2026, MURIC expressed shock and disbelief over the opposition of Christian leaders to the proposed bill.
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‎The group described Christian opposition to the bill as selfish, myopic and parochial. MURIC urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ignore Christian leaders who oppose the bill prohibiting bus preaching and to sign it into law.
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‎The group said, ‎”We are shocked to our marrows that any civilised person (let alone Christian leaders) will oppose an initiative designed to protect Nigerians from road accidents and religious crisis. This opposition is motivated by selfishness, myopism and parochialism.
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‎”It is strange to see that opposition to this progressive idea has come from churches which, ceteris paribus, are full of highly educated people who are supposed to know better. It is another proof that Nigeria is full of educated illiterates.”
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MURIC stated that Christian leaders know that it is wrong to preach inside commercial buses, but they will stop at nothing to achieve their selfish agenda of getting more converts. The group described it as part of Christian aggressive proselytisation and firebrand evangelism.
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‎”It confirms our long-standing suspicion that everything is acceptable to Christian leaders, fair or foul. What they cannot get by the straight, they will take by the bend. ‎Is it not a shame that Christian bodies will collectively oppose orderliness and brazenly embolden chaos? Only anarchists are expected to oppose a bill aimed at stopping carnage on the roads.”
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‎MURIC called on human rights lawyers and all Nigerians of conscience to speak up on the matter and state whether preaching inside a bus is more important than protecting Nigerians’ lives and preserving their sobriety, dignity, and humanity.
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‎”Nobody is allowed to preach inside buses in saner climes. Where in America can we see preachers inside the bus? Nobody will try this inside buses, trams, tubes or trolleys in London, Paris or Frankfurt.
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‎”Under the British Public Order Act 1986, if a street or bus preacher’s conduct causes significant distress, uses inflammatory language, or provokes an angry public response, he can be arrested or moved along for causing a breach of the peace.
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‎”That was why a Nigerian pastor was thrown off a London bus on 3rd December, 2015 for preaching inside the bus.
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‎”On 24th February, 2019, another Nigerian Christian was arrested in London for public disturbance (for preaching on the street
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‎”We also have these laws in Nigeria, but implementation is the problem. That is why things are not working in our society. We lack respect for social decorum. We disregard rules and regulations.
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‎”We push and struggle instead of joining the queue. We throw trash on the street and into the gutters instead of using the bins. Funny enough, we pray to God to protect us from floods! The churches opposing this bill will also pray for you against road accidents. It is acrobatic religiosity and gymnastic spirituality. Who did this to Nigeria?
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‎”The churches and mosques are enough for us to preach. Why must buses be turned into houses of God? Why? The reason is not far-fetched.
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‎”Christian leaders want millions of converts for material gains, not to serve God. The higher the number converted to Christianity, the higher the income through tithes paid by members (Malachi 3:10). Of course, it also implies the richer the leadership, the higher the number of private jets owned by church leaders, even though this does not reflect in the economic and social condition of members.
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‎”Christian leaders aim at converting every Muslim in Nigeria to Christianity. It is an open secret that they have nursed a vision of Nigeria for Jesus for decades. Bus preaching by Nigerian Christians was therefore institutionalised. It was seen as normal.
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‎”In this regard, one of the methods used to achieve that objective is by trapping Muslims in public transport with Christian messages. They know that not less than 95 per cent of Nigerians use public transport. It is an effective means of spreading hot gospel, but it is selfish and anachronistic.
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‎”Preaching inside the bus is a money spinner for Christian leaders because it attracts converts, swells the tithes and builds more billionaire pastors. This explains their fury over the bill prohibiting bus-preaching, which has already been approved and is awaiting the president’s assent.
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‎”Christian leaders will oppose anything that threatens their agenda of proliferation of churches and multiplication of members. That is why they oppose the FRSC bill on bus preaching.
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‎”We know they will not tell the true story when they report this to America. They are most likely to tell the White House that Christians are not being allowed to preach in Nigeria.
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‎”MURIC urges President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ignore Christian leaders who oppose the bill prohibiting bus preaching. ‎We appeal to Mr. President to sign the bill into law.
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‎”To Nigerian Christian leaders, we bring the words of Isaiah: ‘Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.’
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‎”Isaiah 5:20 is a warning against moral perversion and a strong prophetic rebuke against a society that distorts truth and blurs the lines between right and wrong. The question is: Is it worth the while?”