The Muslim Rights Concern has urged the Minister of Communications and Digital Planning, Dr. Isa Pantami, to ignore calls for his resignation.

MURIC made the call on Monday in a statement issued by its director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola.

The organisation alleged that internet fraudsters and kidnappers were behind the online campaign against the minister.

Pantami has been under fire lately over comments he allegedly made several years ago in support of Al-Qaeda – an extremist group founded by the late Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. Bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011, by the US Navy SEALs inside a private residential compound in Pakistan.

Pantami also made comments in support of Taliban, a Sunni Islamist movement and military organisation in Afghanistan currently waging jihad within the country.

Part of the statement read, “It is a baseless call and it should be ignored. After all, the US itself has denied it. Pantami has been enjoying unhindered multiple entries to the US for a very long time. Even Facebook, the US-based social media giant had Pantami’s picture on Facebook’s digital board for several hours as a mark of honor and respect during one of his numerous visits to that country.

“The campaign of calumny is being pushed by forces against the Federal Government’s NIN policy, Boko Haram terrorists, bandits, criminals in general and political IDPs (Internally Displaced Politicians). No one who has the love of Nigeria at heart will support such a malicious and frivolous allegation.

culled from PUNCH