A
Lagos based human rights activist Chief Malcolm Omirhobo has sued the
federal government and the 36 state governments for sponsoring
Christians and Moslems pilgrims on their annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem
and Saudi Arabia, while not extending the same privileges to other
religions.
He
said that the action of government was in violation of Section 10 of
the 1999 constitution which states that “the government of the
federation or of a state shall not accept any religion as State
Religion.
Also that the “granting of concessionary exchange rate to the Moslem and Christian pilgrims alone was preferential, double standard, discriminatory, illegal, unconstitutional
and a violation of the fundamental rights to freedom of worship as
enshrined in section 38 and amounts to discrimination according to
section 42 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution.
“Aside
Christianity and Islam, there are Nigerians who are practicing other
forms of religion such as Paganism, Buddhism, Harri Krishna, Animism,
Eckanker, Grail message, Amok Atheism etc,” he said.
“When
I secured a visa to visit the United States of America for vacation and
approached my bank to procure my Basic Travelling Allowance (BTA) for
the trip, I was informed that the exchange rate of the Naira to the
Dollar was N318.00 to $1.00. So because of the very high exchange rate, I
had to painfully put aside my vacation for the year.
“Same
applies to many Nigerians on daily basis who are in dire need of
foreign exchange to do their business, pay for their medical bills, pay
for education and vacations, etc. But the prevailing market price makes
it impossible to pursue our dreams…”
Omirhobo complained that the
establishment of religious commissions throughout the 36 states of the
federation and in Abuja by law passed by the State Houses of Assembly
was discriminatory to other Nigerian citizens that are not of the
Islamic and Christian faiths.
According to him, one of the
respondent states is currently devastated by the Boko Haram terror
conflict, with many internally displaced persons who are in dire need of
food and other basic needs.
“The monies given to the pilgrims by
the state governors is a waste of tax payers monies,” he said, which
according to him would be better spent, along with donations made by the
international community and other concerned persons, “to internally
displaced persons in that state.”
Respondents
in the suit filed at Federal High Court sitting at Ikoyi are the
Federal Government, the Attorney General of the Federation, the 36
states of the federation and their attorneys general, the Central Bank
of Nigeria, the National Christian Pilgrim Commission, the National Hajj
Commission, Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board and the Christian Pilgrims
Welfare board in the 36 states.