Ulama council rejects ISWAP allegation against two Plateau youths
The Council of Ulama in Yelwa, Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State, has strongly refuted claims that two young tailors from the town are members of the Islamic State in West African Province (ISWAP), describing the allegations as unfair and unjust.
This was disclosed in a statement jointly signed by the council’s chairman, Imam Abdulkarim Salihu; secretary, Imam Abubakar Nuhu Gambo; and treasurer, Imam Armaya’u Abdulkadir Ismail, on Monday.
According to the statement, the two tailors—25-year-old Abdulkadir Dalhatu and 25-year-old Ubaidu Hassan—were named in a press release issued by Operation Safe Haven on Saturday, April 12, which claimed that its troops had arrested suspected ISWAP members, neutralized a bandit, and recovered arms during a sting operation in Yelwa.
The release, signed by Major Samson Nantip Zahkom, the task force’s media information officer, alleged that the young men were arrested while “posing as tailors” during an operation on April 11.
However, the council dismissed the claim, insisting that no such operation took place in Yelwa on the stated date.
Instead, they recounted an incident on April 10 when an unknown man arrived in the community and began taking photographs in front of the tailoring shop operated by the two men at Abdullahi Baraya Family Compound along Ibbi Road.
After being questioned by locals for his suspicious actions and refusing to properly identify himself, the man called in security operatives.
The two tailors and a respected elder, Suleiman Abdullahi Baraya, were subsequently taken by the police and later transferred to the 332 Artillery Regiment Army Barracks in Shendam for questioning.
SolaceBase reports that the council said Mr. Baraya, who has since been released, was informed that the unidentified man was an undercover intelligence officer allegedly tracking a suspected terrorist who was said to have visited the tailoring shop “some time ago.”
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“We were shocked to see the pictures of these two young men, known in the entire Yelwa community to be well-behaved and upright, being circulated in viral media publications as members of a terrorist organisation,” the statement read.
The Ulama Council emphasized that both Abdulkadir and Ubaidu are law-abiding and morally sound individuals, and urged the military authorities to handle the matter professionally and transparently.
They also called for the immediate release of the detained youths, noting that their continued detention jeopardizes their livelihood and unjustly harms their reputation.
“We stand by their innocence and demand that justice be done,” the council concluded.
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