US Muslim clerics write Shekau to release Chibok girls

Borno State, Islamic clerics resident in the United States of America have written to the terror group leader, Abubakar Shekau, to release the girls without delay.

The clerics voiced their anger in a letter written to Shekau and obtained by Sunday Tribune.

The letter was signed by the Supreme Council of Muslim Organisations Zaytuna College, Washington, DC Berkeley; Imam Sheikh Jamal Said; Imam Sheikh Kifah Mustapha; The Mosque Foundation, Bridgeview, IL Bridgeview; Dr. Hatem Bazian; American Muslims for Palestine; Council on American-Islamic Relations; Islamic Circle of North America; Khalil Meek W. Deen Mohammed II; Muslim Legal Fund of America The Mosque Cares, Dallas, TX Chicago, IL; Mahtabuddin Ahmed Hussein Ata, among others.

According to them, it is imperative the girls are released immediately. They said, 'we urge you to immediately release the young children you have unconscionably taken. Your actions have shocked Muslims across the world and have disrespected Islam and the teachings of the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).

'Your justification for stealing these children - that education for girls goes against Islam - has no basis whatsoever in our faith. The Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) wisely emphasised that every Muslim man and woman has a duty to seek education. You have truly strayed from Islam when your actions betray its first command: 'Iqra!'

They insisted that by such act, the Boko Haram sect had strayed from the teachings of Islam, arguing, 'Your attempt to transform a central tenet of Islam into a vile lie used to kill and maim innocent Nigerians of all faiths is transparent. You treat children like cattle.'

They called on Shekau to 'listen to the global chorus of voices that are enjoining you to do what is right: return these children to their families and replace the evil in your heart with peace and learning.'