Nigerians on social media have insisted that the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, should be removed over some controversial comments he made in the past in support of global terrorist groups, Al-Qaeda and Taliban.
Though the minister had renounced the controversial comments on the terrorist groups, saying that he was young when he made the radical comments and he is now mature and now knows better, Nigerians reiterated their position that Pantami must resign.
Some of them also called for the prosecution of the minister, insisting that he should be jailed if found guilty.
As of 10 am on Sunday, #PantamiResignNow is trending as number one on Twitter.
Pantami has been under fire lately over comments he allegedly made several years ago in support of Al-Qaeda – an extremist group founded by the late Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. Bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011, by the US Navy SEALs inside a private residential compound in Pakistan.
Pantami also made comments in support of Taliban, a Sunni Islamist movement and military organisation in Afghanistan currently waging jihad within the country.
“This jihad is an obligation for every single believer, especially in Nigeria,’’ Pantami was quoted to have said in one of his preachings in the 2000s. “Oh God, give victory to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda,” he was also quoted to have prayed.
Ayo Sogunro said, “This is not about age. I was once a teenager too – and I never supported killing people of different religions or beliefs. #PantamiResignNow.”
@SheriffQuadry tweeted, “If indeed @DrIsaPantami is a man of God and a principled one at that, the right thing to do at this point is to resign. It is not a sign of weakness nor it is you conceding out of guilt. It is just the honorable thing to do.”
@FS_Yusuf_ said, “Age has everything to do with radicalism. We’ve seen old and young turn suicide bombers. Pantami saying he was young when he held those terroristic ideologies isn’t any excuse at all.
“#PantamiResignNow, begin evangelism of deradicalisation. He has no business handling public affairs.”
@funshographix said, “Those who starts the trend of #PantamiWillStay, says we’re hating Isa Pantami because he’s a Muslim. He just admitted that he was not mature when he supports Taliban and al-Qaeda. In a sane country, he would have been sacked and jailed by now instead of saying #PantamiResignNow.”
