The Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has appealed to Muslim community in Nigeria to remain calm and guide against any reprisal attack on any religion or body over the burning of a central Mosques in Onitsha, Anambra state.

The Secretary, NSCIA, Professor Is-haq O. Oloyede, made the appeal yesterday during a press conference over the Onitsha attack in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital.

Oloyede said the council notes with distress the unfortunate and unprovoked attacks on Muslims and the Central Mosque at Onitsha on Wednesday.

"Muslims, must as a matter of principle, resist the temptation of being drawn to retaliation. They should consider the perpetrators as criminals and not representative of any ethnic or religious group. Muslims are warned against the antics of those who seek to whip up religious sentiments to further their clandestine political motives. Vengeance is for Allah and Muslims should exercise maximum restraint in these trying times," Oloyede said.

The council however appealed to the federal government and the relevant security agencies to take urgent and appropriate steps to safeguard the lives of Muslims brothers and sisters and any other vulnerable community living in any part of the country.