The Muslim Rights Concern has demanded the immediate ban of an upcoming film featuring actress Nancy Isime and others portraying women in niqab brandishing weapons.
The group has labeled the film as “satanic,” accusing it of depicting Muslim women as criminals and inciting public hostility against them.
According to The PUNCH, the Executive Director of MURIC Professor Ishaq Akintola, issued a statement on Thursday condemning the film, which was recently unveiled by Isime.
The statement claimed that the film promotes Islamophobia and aims to portray Muslim women as violent criminals, potentially inciting public ridicule and endangering the Muslim community.
The statement read, “An extremely anti-Muslim film has been released into the Nigerian movie industry. The upcoming film, which was recently unveiled by Nancy Isime, shows women in purdah brandishing dangerous weapons and robbing banks. It is Islamophobia taken to the highest level. This film is satanic, repugnant, and provocative.
“It is aimed at portraying Muslim women as criminals with a violent proclivity. The film is capable of inciting the public against Muslim women. It may also expose Muslims in general to public ridicule and opprobrium.
“We believe that the film is the handiwork of Muslim-haters and part of the plot to stop Muslim women from wearing hijab and niqab. The plot was hatched a long time ago, and its execution began in the schools. This plot was boldly and diligently confronted in Nigerian courts by Muslims until the highest court in the land made a pronouncement on it. This Satanic film is the latest effort in the war against hijab.
Akintola maintained that the film is capable of setting Nigeria on fire if urgent action is not taken by the relevant authorities while urging the National Film and Video Censors Board to investigate and place an immediate ban on the coming film.
“To Nigerian Muslims who have inundated our communication channels with video clips, voice notes, and other types of messages, we have this to say: please remain calm and peaceful. You have spoken loud and clear.
“We have received your messages and action is being taken right now. Our religion brought a message of hope and peace to the world. We will not allow anyone to paint our women, our mothers, our wives, our daughters and sisters in the colours of Shaytan. Be good ambassadors of Islam. Don’t take the law into your hands. Allow the authorities to take necessary action,” he added.
Recall that Isime had sparked outrage among the Muslim community in the country after unveiling a movie poster that features women wearing hijab and face veils holding guns in a bank robbery scene.
