The group representing Muslims across the 16 local government areas of the state said the people must be wary of men of God who want to use religion to divide the country.

Addressing a press conference on recent unguarded utterances of some Christian clerics on Muslims and Islam yesterday, Chairman of the group and pioneer Grand Khadi of the state Sharia Court of Appeal, Justice Abdulkadir Orire stressed that Islam is a religion of peace which represents peace in its entirety.

The press conference was in response to the recent preaching by Pastor Bosun Emmanuel of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and that of the founder of Winners' Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo which have gone viral on the internet.

According to the group, Pastor Bosun in his preaching made uncomplimentary remarks about Islam and Muslims. These remarks, he stated, include among others, that the Boko Haram insurgency is an attempt to Islamize Nigeria; that the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) is a Nigerian version of Islamic Brotherhood of Egypt and that Muslims are killing Christians indiscriminately and destroying churches.

Justice Orire also quoted Bishop Oyedepo of making inflammatory statement on national unity and telling his congregation that if it's the wish of God to break Nigeria, He should break it now. "Lord, if it's your wish to break Nigeria, break it now!", he was quoted as saying.

However, Justice Orire said the preaching by the men of God was an attempt to whip up religious sentiments ahead of the election. He also condemned what he called "the deafening silence" of President Goodluck Jonathan on the said hate speech.

He said, "We should all realise the fact that the President who told Nigerians that sponsors of Boko Haram had infiltrated his government, had not revealed the sponsors or arrested anyone in his government since 2012.

"However, to put the record straight, out of 55 years of Nigeria's independence, Christian leaders had ruled for 32 years while Muslim leaders ruled for only 23 years.

"Also, in 16 years of Nigeria's third democratic rule, Christian leaders from the South had ruled for 14 years while a single Muslim Northerner ruled for only 2 years.

"To digress a bit, please recall the unwarranted extra judicial killing of Professor Falaki of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the four children of Sheikh El-Zak Zaky of Zaria, Kaduna state and others which the government had done nothing about.

"We demand unequivocally that this seeming persecution of Muslims is halted in the interest of justice and fair play. Henceforth, the government should guarantee the preservation of the lives, rights and privileges of Muslims who are predominantly known to be peace loving.

"Islam unequivocally preaches peace, love, and good neighbourliness. The religion of Islam guarantees the fundamental rights of non-Muslims even in a deeply Islamic clime. Non-Muslims are not to be persecuted under any circumstance.

"It must be stated that the action of a few non-Muslims that hide under Islam to commit atrocities cannot be a justification to tag Muslims as terrorists. The Boko Haram insurgency that has ravaged Nigeria has never been seen as an act committed by Muslims. They are rather few unguided criminals who do not and cannot represent Islam because Islam does not only preach peace, it represents peace.

"Therefore, the argument by these Christian clerics that Boko Haram is a war against Christianity holds no water. It is unfounded, misleading, spurious and completely blatant lies aimed at causing disaffection and mutual suspicion among Nigerians.

"If we may ask, are the states ravaged by Boko Haram not populated more by Muslims? Not only that Muslims were being slaughtered, prominent Muslim clerics and Emirs who were bombed during Jummah prayers have become victims and targets of these devil incarnates called Boko Haram.

"The Kwara State Muslim stakeholders believe that all Nigerians irrespective of religious affiliation should come together and support the government to eliminate these criminal elements rather than engaging in worthless venture which does not offer any solution to the current challenge facing the nation.

"We note with amusement the reference by Pastor Bosun Emmanuel that the APC is an Islamic agenda aimed at Islamizing Nigeria and that all APC executive members are Muslims. This is not only false and misleading but a deliberate attempt to whip up religious sentiment ahead of the forthcoming election.

"Though we are not politicians, our findings have shown that the National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun is a Christian just like the Director General of APC Presidential campaign organisation, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State. Other prominent leaders and executive members of the party are also Christians. It is also in the public domain that the APC Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, has many personal aides who are Christians and reports have it that he has never discriminated against them or impinged on their rights.

"Nigerians should be wary of the so-called men of God who want to use religion to divide the country. The coming election is not a contest of religion. Every Nigerian should be allowed to vote according to his or her conscience while we reject the subtle attempt by Pastor Bosun to canvass support for President Goodluck Jonathan simply because he is a Christian.

"We call on President Goodluck Jonathan who is the Commander-In-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces and father of the nation to rise above religious affiliation and condemn in strongest terms possible attempts by some Christian clerics to cause disaffection among Nigerians. We condemn his continued silence and pretentious stance over hate preaching of Pastor Bosun and some other clerics.

"The President's silence could only mean tacit support and encouragement for these so-called men of God and others like them which would give credence to the allegation already in the public domain that the presidency offered bribe to some Christian leaders to champion his re-election.

"We equally expect the Spiritual Father of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye to speak up on the hate speech attributed to one of his pastors. Pastor Adeboye should caution Pastor Bosun publicly against using the pulpit to spread falsehood, an action which Christianity forbids.

"It is most unfortunate that Nigerians have never been so divided along religious lines like this before. The mutual suspicion has grown in leaps and bounds and could be seen and felt everywhere, yet the President has not deemed it fit to douse this tension.

"Nigerians demand good governance and leadership that would address the multifarious challenges confronting the country like epileptic electricity, corruption, insecurity, unemployment, hunger, etc.

"We urge Nigerians to vote according to their conscience after weighing all the candidates based on their competence and capacity.

"Finally, we admonish Muslims to ignore the messages by Pastor Bosun Emmanuel and David Oyedepo. They lack substance and logic and all the claims contained therein are misleading and fallacious. We should continue to remain peaceful and harmonious".