Eid: MURIC chides FG, Says Only Christians Enjoy Free Yuletide Ride

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has faulted the Federal Government and the Nigerian Railway Corporation for excluding Muslims from the free train ride.

The group alleged that the same is only given during Christian celebrations.

In a press release made on Thursday, which is a day before the Eid al-Kabir celebrations, MURIC’s Executive Director, Prof Ishaq Akintola, accused the government of showing a consistent gesture of free rail travel during Christmas without reciprocating the same for Islamic celebrations.

He mentioned his concern that while train services were gratuitously offered from December 2024 to early January 2025, all train operations scheduled for roughly around Eid were commercial and paid.

“If this is an oversight, we demand an apology from FG. If it is deliberate, we will assume it is an exhibition of executive impunity,” the statement added.

The group referenced NRC’s announcement of additional journeys along corridors like Lagos to Ibadan but pointed out that they did not come cheaply, referring to them as “insufficient and non-comparable” against the “luxury” provided during the holiday season.

MURIC questioned the fairness of this action, especially under a Muslim-president driven government and Muslim-Muslim ticket. It said that this trend is reflective of a broader trend of Muslims being marginalized in national policy.

“Despite the fact that neither FG nor NRC has been fair to Muslims, we will hold our peace since we have no iota of doubt that Almighty Allah is forever constant, ever watchful,” Akintola stated.

The group also criticized long-time national practices it described as vestiges of colonial religious discrimination.

These included current weekend and public holiday practices, which it said were biased towards Christianity.

MURIC served an ultimatum of apology to the FG or a reversal of what it referred to as a trend towards discrimination.

Despite complaints from them, it wished Eid greetings to Muslims and called for patience and restraint in celebrating.