India’s most wanted fugitive, Zakir Naik, meets Nigerian soldiers, calls Sultan of Sokoto Head of State

Confusion as India most wanted fugitive, Zakir Naik, meets Nigerian soldiers, calls Sultan of Sokoto Head of State

Controversial Islamic cleric who was declared wanted by India for terrorizing financing and money laundering in 2016, Dr Zakir Naik, has visited Nigeria.

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.’

 

Why Naik label the Nigerian security officials as Muslims, is unclear. But the man is not done. He also met the Sultan of Sokoto, who is the leader of Muslims in Nigeria. This morning, Naik shared the photograph after their meeting. He captioned it: ‘Interaction with the Heads 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. The governor is the leader.  But Naik, in a post accompanying the photograph with his meeting with the Sultan, added: “Interaction with the Heads of State Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abu Bakar Sultan of Sokoto, Nigeria.”

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 terrorst attack occurred on the night of 1 July 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 Indian Times, one of the bombers told Bangladeshi investigators that he was influenced by Dr Naik’s preaching through his YouTube channel. Zakir Naik has denied the charges and has been living in Malaysia where he has a permanent residency.