President of Turkey, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with his Nigerian host, Muhammadu Buhari during the former's state visit in Abuja, recently
NADECO knocks Buhari over Turkish PM’s visit
Pro-democracy group, the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) has urged Nigerians to be more vigilant Nigerians following the recent visit by the hardline President of Turkey, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent state visit to Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari hosted his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was on a two-day official visit to Nigeria from October 19.
NADECO, in a statement, Thursday, by its Convener, Lloyd Ukwu, in Washington DC, United States, in reaction to the visit and meeting with President Buhari, in Abuja, accused the Turkish leader of seeking to expand the Nigerian President’s alleged Islamisation agenda.
While describing Erdogan as an Islamist whose leadership has led to the persecution of Christians, including the conversion of churches into mosques, NADECO USA expressed worry that the entire visit was shrouded in secrecy.
NADECO said though the visit was billed as a business trip to purportedly negotiate the purchase of Nigeria’s gas, ‘the intelligence community is worried that President Erdogan’s trip is to further the Islamisation agenda of the current government.’
President Erdogan had in 2016 made a secret trip to Nigeria a few months after President Buhari took over power.
Buhari is widely quoted to have declared his commitment to Islamise Nigeria in a speech he delivered at a seminar organized by the Supreme Council of Sharia in August 2001, a position that has endeared him to the Turkish leader.
NADECO said the Turkish President, Recep Erdogan, is equally known as the king of religious intolerance especially against Christians, stressing, “his record is public information and it stinks.’’
Continuing, the group said in 2020, President Erdogan ignored concerns from the global religious community as two former Byzantine churches in Istanbul, the famed Hagia Sophia and the Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, which served as museums for decades, were converted to mosques in the space of a month.
“Everyone is aware of how other religions are persecuted in Turkey. Erdogan himself is another religious bigot given his antecedent. The international community is equally worried about the visit. The visit has been shrouded in secrecy and billed as a business trip to negotiate the purchase of Nigeria’s gas’’, NADECO said.
“NADECO and its coalition of ethnic nationalities, therefore, urge Nigerians to be more watchful and discerning during and after President Erdogan’s unwelcome visit to Nigeria especially at this time that Nigeria is grappling with alleged state-sanctioned religious persecution.
“The combination of Buhari and Erdogan is threatening and capable of endangering not only Nigeria but the West Africa sub-region,” the group said.
