MURIC drops court case against Falz, but still wants action against artiste

Six days after the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) issued a seven-day ultimatum to Falz, ordering him to withdraw his video titled “This is Nigeria” and apologise to Nigerians or face legal action, the group has dropped the move.

Rather, the group in a fresh statement signed by its Director Professor Ishaq Akintola, said they would report Falz to appropriate agencies while also noting that the latest move is not a U-turn but ‘a sudden change in tactics’.

The statement by MURIC reads thus in part; “In view of the intervention of well-meaning Nigerians, counselling from several quarters and commitments given by us to those who interfaced with us on this matter, an emergency meeting of MURIC’s Think-Tank was convened on Sunday, June 10, 2018 to review the situation and resolved to drag the artist to government agencies saddled with the responsibility of censoring films and videos. It is not a U-turn but a sudden change in tactics’.

“The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) last week resolved to sue Folarin Falana (Falz the Bahd Guy), a Nigerian artist, who produced the video song titled ‘This is Nigeria’ in which a Fulani man was seen beheading somebody. The video also featured hijab-wearing female choreographers dancing the ‘shaku-shaku’ (a dance associated with drug). A seven-day ultimatum was given for the withdrawal of the video and an apology failing which a legal tussle would be launched.

“Our office has since been inundated with solidarity visits, while our telephone lines have been flooded with a deluge of calls from members, friends, well-wishers, journalists and other concerned Nigerians, majority of whom are of the Islamic faith.

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“In view of the intervention of these well-meaning Nigerians, counseling from several quarters and commitments given by us to those who interfaced with us on this matter, an emergency meeting of MURIC’s Think-Tank was convened on Sunday, June 10, 2018 to review the situation.

“In deference to pleas made by well-meaning Nigerians, in order to keep faith with our avowed motto (Dialogue, Not Violence) and to further confirm that MURIC is a listening, mature and responsible organization committed to promoting peace in Nigeria, the Think-Tank resolved to drag the artist to government agencies saddled with the responsibility of censoring films and videos. It is not a U-turn but a sudden change in tactics.

“This will have a more enduring impact not only on Falz but the entire entertainment industry. It will also make the agencies sit up to their responsibilities and inject a huge dose of discipline in the music and film industries in general.

MURIC had earlier said that it is offended that some girls dressed in hijab were dancing ‘shaku shaku’ in the music video.

The group an earlier statement also described the video as thoughtless, insensitive and highly provocative and intended to denigrate Islam and Muslims.

Recall that after facing a lot of backlash with many critics positing that it was flagrant of him to turn sensitive issues in the country into a satire, Falz in explaining the essence of the video said the musical clip was done to address societal ills.

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