A United Kingdom-based Islamic
preacher, Mizanur Rahman, is being investigated by police after a video
showed him praising Boko Haram for kidnapping over 200 schoolgirls.
The 31-year-old of Palmers Green, north
London, claimed in the video-recording posted online that killing
non-Muslims was ‘not necessarily a bad thing.’
The sect had abducted the pupils from Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State since April 14.
A report by a UK tabloid, Daily Mail, said Rahman also praised the terror group for its activities.
He said in the video, “People want to
make it out as though history began on the day these girls were taken
from – sorry I should say these women – were taken from this high school
in Nigeria.
“They didn’t do to these girls what the
Nigerian government had been doing to the Muslims all these years. They
didn’t rape anybody. They didn’t torture. They didn’t murder any of
these girls.”
The preacher was quoted to have described
the terrorist group as being “full of good messages,” including its
support for al-Qaeda.
Rahman, said to be a follower of a
firebrand preacher, Anjem Choudary, was convicted in 2007 for a
murder-related case and bagged a six-year jail sentence. He was released
from prison in 2010.
Choudary, who set up the banned Al
Muhajiroun organisation with exiled Omar Bakri Muhammad, however, said
Rahman was a ‘good friend’ who had given a measured response to the
crisis.
He said, “I believe if you look at what
he was saying it was very measured. You just have to look at the
atrocities that, especially in 2011 and 2012, that were carried out
against the women and child of Al Mujahideen by the Nigerian government.
“That story has not been told, and this
is retaliation for that. The Americans are only interested in Nigeria
because of its oil reserves. Otherwise, they would not be bothered.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said, “We
are aware of the video and we are assessing its contents. We are not
prepared to discuss this further.”
Via Punch/Dailymail
