The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has accused the media of excluding Islamic scholars and Nigerian Muslims in general from ongoing heated debates on alleged Christian genocide in the country.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the MURIC executive director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, condemned the path of exclusivity toed by the media and demanded to know when Muslims will be given a place at the table.

It insisted that the Nigerian press, except for very few, has drifted away from balance, fairness, and professionalism.

“We are constrained to call attention to the way and manner the ongoing debate on the imaginary Christian genocide is being handled by the Nigerian media. We note with grave concern how both the print and electronic media have excluded Islamic scholars in particular and Nigerian Muslims in general.

“Christian clergies and their followers are given unlimited opportunities to appear on television and to speak on radio or on the pages of newspapers. They use the opportunity to launch verbal halitosis, discharge clangorous diatribes, pour invectives, and fire vitriolic attacks without being restrained by their anchors. What is most shocking there is that the Muslims who are being accused are not invited to respond after the Islamophobic fireworks.

“A good example was the interview granted by News Central to Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo on or around 10th November, 2025, where he ranted endlessly about his phantom genocide based on Muslim-Muslim ticket. To the best of our knowledge, the same television station has not deemed it fit to invite any Muslim scholar from the same area as the Christian cleric to respond to the allegations. Is this fair?

“Meanwhile, Muslims from Dachomo’s area under the aegis of Mangu Concerned Muslim Consultative Forum (MCMCF) have debunked Dachomo’s claims. They said Christians of the North Central have engaged in systematic genocide against them for the past 25 years.

“Media houses chatting with members of the public often forget their corporate responsibility. Television and radio stations, including newspapers, must find a way of dousing cyber tension. Litigations may not leave out media houses found to have been negligent or corroborative in public incitement.

“Most importantly, we find the level of professionalism going down steadily in the media in recent times. Or how do we describe the absence of ethics in the media’s handling of interviews with propagators of the misleading Christian genocide narrative? The public only hears one side of the story because it is those who allege alone that are invited.

“What of the Muslim side? Are there no Muslims in this country? Are there no Islamic scholars who can be invited to air their own views? Why does the media always invite Christians from the North Central without giving Muslims from the same zone the right of reply? What happened to the principle of audi alteram partem (hear from the other side)?

“Muslims have complained of mass killings in their hundreds by terrorists almost on a daily basis in the North West and North East of Nigeria. What efforts has the media made to hear from Muslims from those zones? At least the whole world knows that those being killed by the terrorists in Sokoto, Borno, Katsina, Zamfara, Kano, Kebbi, Yobe, etc, are Muslims.

“Most national television stations have correspondents in those Muslim majority states. Why are Nigerians being denied the opportunity to hear from them? We are disturbed that people like Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo are invited by television and radio stations to spew fire against Muslims without the stations inviting a Muslim cleric to respond. Who does that?

“We have seen how representatives of other political parties are invited to defend or state their parties’ positions when allegations are made against them. But the Nigerian press relishes shaving the heads of Muslims in their absence.

“That does not reflect balance or professionalism. It is indoctrination. Nigerians are gradually being programmed to hate Muslims. The Nigerian press is poisoning the minds of the general public (including those of gullible Muslims, too) against Islam and its followers. This is very dangerous because we all know that incitement can lead to riots.

“We are therefore calling on the relevant agencies who are expected to monitor, guide, caution, and take punitive measures to call these media houses to order before it is too late. At least Nigeria’s media landscape is regulated by key bodies like the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for radio, television and digital content, the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) for print media ethics, and the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON).

“We frown at this parochial path of exclusivity trodden by the Nigerian media. We demand to know when Muslims will be given a place at the table. We assert that the Nigerian press, except for very few, has drifted away from balance, fairness, and professionalism.

“The ongoing debate on Christian genocide has lost its luster due to the way Muslims, who constitute a significant proportion of the population, have been locked out at a time when they stand as the group being accused of a farcical genocide.

“It is only proper that Muslims are involved in the conversation; otherwise, it is not a national debate. The Nigerian press, except for very few, has drifted away from balance, fairness, and professionalism. The Muslims are being framed. Worse still, they are gagged by the press. They are voiceless, oppressed, and repressed.

“The fact that the other side ‘owns’ the press or ‘has influence’ in the media does not matter at all. That does not give the media the licence to deny the Muslims fair hearing. That is the essence of audi alteram partem. The question on our lips is: when will the media hear from the Muslims?” (Channels)

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