A terror suspect confessed that he was influenced by the preaching of Dr Zakir Naik through his YouTube channel.
By Ishaya Ibrahim
Controversial Islamic cleric who was declared wanted by India for terrorism financing, hate speech and money laundering, Dr Zakir Naik, has visited Nigeria, on Monday.
On arrival, he took pictures with Immigration and Air force officials at one of Nigeria’s airports. He then shared the photographs on his X handle with controversial captions. In one of the captions, he said: ‘Interaction with Muslim Immigration.’ In another photograph, he tagged it: ‘Interaction with Muslim Air Force.’
Dr Naik also met the Sultan of Sokoto, who is the leader of Muslims in Nigeria. But Naik, in his caption of a photograph after their meeting, called the Sultan: ‘Head of States.’
Sultan is an Arabic word which means a king or ruler, especially of a Muslim state. Nigeria’s Sultan of Sokoto is a ceremonial title which doesn’t make him the leader of Sokoto. But Naik, in a post accompanying the photograph of his meeting with the Sultan, said: “Interaction with the Heads of State Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abu Bakar Sultan of Sokoto, Nigeria.”
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Zakir Naik is one of the biggest Muslim clerics in the world with more than 3.6 million followers on Youtube.
According to India Times, Zakir Naik fled India in the wake of Dhaka cafe blast of July 2016. The authorities accused him of spreading hatred, funding terror and money laundering.
The deadly Dhaka Café terror attack occurred on the night of July 1, 2016, when five militants took hostages and opened fire on the Holey Artisan Bakery in the Indian town of Gulshan Thana. They killed 29 persons during the brutal attack.
According to the newspaper, one of the bombers told Bangladeshi investigators that he was influenced by the preaching of Dr Naik through his YouTube channel. Zakir Naik has denied the charges.