I’ve been abandoned by govt -Darul-Islam leader Abdullahi

How do you get the money to fend for yourself and your family while under custody? All this while, I have been using the money I received as compensation for my Mokwa property to feed myself and my family, and as I’m talking to you right now, that money is almost finished. I have four […]

How do you get the money to fend for yourself and your family while under custody?

All this while, I have been using the money I received as compensation for my Mokwa property to feed myself and my family, and as I’m talking to you right now, that money is almost finished. I have four wives, seven children and some visitors staying with me here. I have proposed to the authorities to allow me to go my own way and settle somewhere else, since it is appearing as though the burden of my responsibility is becoming too heavy for them to bear.

I made the proposal based on the arithmetic that every kobo I spend for myself while here amounts to a big loss on my part.

Where do you intend to settle if the authorities feel they cannot take care of you and ask you to leave?

I will go to Kaduna State where I have followers who can offer me part of their personal houses to stay. For the mere fact that this place is the office of Hisbah men, I know I’m being monitored, although no one has ever asked me where I was going when I want to go out. I have a car parked here, but I don’t use it because I cannot drive and my driver who takes me around in Darul Islam has been taken to his state of origin. So these are the kinds of challenges I face here.

Someone should have come and to explain to me why they think keeping me here is imperative. You see, there was a time when some government officials came here and informed me that they were making arrangements for a permanent accommodation for me, which would be befitting of my status as a leader, and which would  be conducive for me to live a comfortable life.

After some days, they came back and told me that the arrangement had been cancelled, but in its place, Kano Municipal Local Government, that is the area I hailed from, is going to rent a house at the rate of N200,000 for me annually. I did not object to either of the proposals, even though none has been implemented to date.

Don’t you think the authorities are being cautious not to let you go, so that you will not create another Darul Islam?

I think I can discuss these issues with them. The authorities should have raised why they think it is imperative to keep in their custody with me.

I am being inundated on a daily basis with phone calls from my followers who are spread all over the country – and, you know, they are many – in respect of my plight. They would call and say ‘Malam what is this all about, what are we supposed to do’. They want to know the kind of action to take over my condition. I have been pacifying them, imploring them to treat the matter with caution and approach it peacefully.

To be precise, we have members in 24 states and they call me every five to six minutes to find out if the condition under which I’m being held has changed. And, as I said earlier, I caution that I don’t want any trouble with government and that I don’t want us to do anything that can breach peace.   

Could it be that your followers are anxious to come together and build another Darul Islam after you might have been set free?

No! That is not what we are after, because on the day we left Darul Islam town, we accepted all the conditions imposed upon us by the authorities. Therefore, our mission now is not to create another town of our own; what we want is, every one of us to be accorded his rights.  

Now, they are susceptible to being attacked in the bush, likewise they can be accused of plotting to perpetrate evil or recreate Darul Islam.

Therefore, I for one will never hope to relive similar experience where I will be subjected to the same pains and injustice.

Have you by any means brought government’s attention to your plight, before concluding on committing them to prayers?

There is a complaint letter we sent to Kano State governor, which has not got to him yet. In the letter, we stated the complaints of our members in the state. My own case was mentioned and we also mentioned what happened to our members in Takai. We were brief in enumerating the complaints, believing that when I’m invited subsequently, I will table all the problems before the governor.

The letter was a product of a meeting of about 40 of us in this place. Initially, some members suggested at the meeting that the 400 of us who were returned to Kano should march in a peaceful procession to Government House so as to bring the attention of the world to our plight.

But some people countered that and suggested that what would be appropriate is to write to the governor first. As we went to Government House to submit the letter, we were prevented from going in to see him, but were instead directed to his secretary. We succeeded in delivering the letter subsequently, where the secretary asked us to return in 14 days. But when we went to him again after 14 days, he asked us to go back because the governor travelled. Our thinking is that he does not want us to see the governor.

Where are your relations in Kano?

I am an indigene of Kano, but was born in Sudan. My father and his mother migrated from Kano and settled there 60 years ago. My mother hails from Yanleman in Hadejia, Jigawa State. I visited her in Sudan two years ago.

During my first visit to Nigeria, I traced my mother’s root in Yanleman, with the aid of the information she provided me. But for my paternal side, I did not find it easy, because even when I traced two houses belonging to my father’s brothers, Abdullahi Sulaiman and Sulaiman Mai Dala’ilu, their relations turned hostile towards me, perhaps thinking that I came to make some claims. So, I felt disappointed by their actions, because my intention was to trace my genealogy and unite with my kith and kin, I was not going to ask them for wealth or inheritance. I didn’t need it, because I was doing well. So I went and settled at Dorayi and got married subsequently. During my days in Dorayi, I was employed by the late Alhaji Habibu Gado Da Masu, as Islamic tutor. For his entire household. And after leaving him, I had a brief, yet frosty relationship with members of the Izala sect. Our interactions did not go smoothly because of our divergent views. When later on I noticed that I have gathered a significant followership; I moved out of Kano and settled in Niger State, with my followers.

I have children in Sudan. One of them is a senior lawyer.If not for the outbreak of the Boko Haram crisis, I would have gone to visit my mother this year. I had finalized all the necessary arrangements and got a visa, but when I got the news of the killing of Boko Haram leader, I called off the journey, because of the thought of leaving behind my followers in such an unpredictable period.

I have once been invited by immigration officials over the issue of my nationality. When they insinuated that I was not a Nigerian, I challenged them to explain to me how I came about the Hausa language I speak, which no Sudanese citizen can speak. I told them that being born in Sudan does not make one a Sudanese, and that is exactly my situation.