The office of the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Dr Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu, says its doors are opened for collaboration with National Security operatives on modalities to properly integrate the two Guantanamo Bay ex-detainees who are currently in the country.
According to the spokesperson for the Chief Imam, Sheikh Shaibu Aremeyaw, the two ex-detainees may at one point or the other wish to worship at a mosque, and it is necessary that the security apparatus collaborates with the office of the chief Imam to fashion out which mosque and the kind of preacher who should deliver the sermon during their visit.
He added that what the two ex-detainees also needed was counselling to help them effectively reintegrate into society.
“We must acknowledge that they [ex- detainees] have gone through a long period of detention with possible torture, which means that they come out with a certain pain in their minds, because of that they need a certain debriefing and counselling, and monitored closely”.
He said by now there should have been a certain engagement between the security apparatus and the Chief Imam, “because if they are Muslims, what it means is that they may at one time want to visit a mosque. The selection of that mosque each time they wish to worship in one should also be a matter of consideration and the kind of preacher who preaches at that mosque”.
He emphasised that even among Muslim preachers, there are radicals; therefore, it is important that there is a collaboration in choosing the kind of Muslim preacher who has the kind of disposition that can help reform the minds of the ex-detainees.
Additionally, there must be some kind of orientation for members of the mosque they may be taken to worship, to prepare their minds before the two visitors arrive.
He said in so far as no individual has found the two culpable of any crime, but held unlawfully by the United States, they should be given the opportunity to put their lives together.
He disagreed with the statements made by both the Christian Council and the Pentecostal Council to the effect that the ex-detainees should be returned to the United States.
“I think that they have taken a very prejudicial position. I was expecting that they would look at purely the human side of the whole issue, and once they failed to do so, then I have a suspicion that they are prejudicial about the whole thing.”
He was of a strong conviction that government had made a thorough assessment of the security implications before accepting to host the two detainees.
“I want to believe that our government is not oblivious of the threat of terrorism. I am confident that our government does not intend to plunge us into any security crisis. That is why background check was done about the two people before a decision was arrived at to admit them into the country”, he added.
Meanwhile, the hosting of the two ex-detainees has been met with varied reactions from the general public. While some believe that that the two ex-detainees pose grave security threat to the state, others have allayed the fears of many.
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