About a fortnight ago, a Bauchi-based Islamic preacher, Idris Tenshi, called for the “killing” of wife of the President, Senator Remi Tinubu, on grounds of being an “infidel” married to Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a Muslim. The first lady is a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG.

Tenshi was quoted to have said: “Tinubu’s wife is an unbeliever, and even among the unbelievers, she is a leader. She is among those that Allah has instructed us to kill because she is among the leaders of the unbelievers”. Many concerned Nigerians have condemned this barbaric utterance, calling for the arrest of the so-called cleric.

The Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, tendered an effusive apology to the wife of the president, assuring her that it would “never happen again”. But this only came on the eve of her official visit to the state. Tenshi has also reportedly apologised, claiming that other clerics have given him a “clearer explanation” of the Islamic scripture he referred to.

We are seriously disappointed at the continued aloofness of our law enforcement agencies when a monumental crime of this nature is committed. In the first place, what is Tenshi’s business with the marital relationship between Tinubu and his wife of 27 years? Why do Tenshi and his likes think their being religious preachers entitles them to brazenly violate the civil and constitutional rights of other Nigerians who do not belong to their ethnic, religious or regional backgrounds? And why do the law enforcement agencies fail to uphold the law and protect the constitutional rights of Nigerians when these violations occur?

Time and again, some self-styled Islamic clerics and traditional leaders have perpetrated heinous acts of rights violations bordering on “blasphemy” killings, abduction, forceful conversion and marriage of non-Muslim young women to Islam without the permission of their parents, and prevalence of child voters.

The case of teenager, Ese Rita Oruru, who was abducted from her parents’ home in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State and taken to Kano to be forcibly married to one Yunusa Dahiru in August 2015, and similar violations, remain fresh in our memories.

It is the reluctance of the law enforcement agencies to do their jobs when these breaches occur in the North that encourages others to continue committing them. The irony of it is that such acts are never tolerated by the same law enforcement agencies outside the North. 

Tenshi’s apology is not enough. He should be arrested and prosecuted, not necessarily because he targeted the first lady, but because he violated the law.

There must be a deterrence to other future violators.