The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has given Falz a 7-day ultimatum to withdraw his “This is Nigeria” video and apologize to all Muslims and Nigerians in general or face legal action.

In the controversial video which has since gone viral, some girls dressed in hijab were seen dancing the trendy “shaku shaku” dance style.

Despite Falz’s vivid explanation that the girls were a representation of the abducted Chibok girls still in Boko Haram captivity, several religious bodies has described the video as an assault on their belief and faith. In a press statement by the director of MURIC, Mr. Ishaq Akintola, the organization said the dancers in the video in no way depict the situation of the girls.

MURIC also condemned a character that dressed like a Fulani man, who suddenly abandoned his traditional guitar before beheading another man in the video. In a strong-worded criticism, MURIC claimed that the video was “thoughtless, insensitive and highly provocative.” They warned that the video could spark religious and ethnic crisis. They also claimed that the video is spiteful and intended to denigrate Islam and Muslims. Read MURIC’s full statement below:

“At least none of the Chibok girls have been seen dancing like a drunkard. They are always in pensive mood. Do they have any cause to be dancing? Are they happy? The video manifests ethnic bias against Fulanis while it ignored the criminal activities of ethnic militia of the Middle Belt who have also massacred Fulanis and rustled their cattle in their thousands. It is a hate video. This video has the potential of causing religious crisis of unprecedented dimension.”

“It is an assault on the self-dignity of every Muslim. It is freedom of expression gone haywire. We therefore demand its withdrawal and an apology to Nigerian Muslims within seven days or the authors and their agents will face legal action if they fail to comply. Only the scenes portraying police brutality and the money-swallowing snake in the video are near the truth.”

“We call the attention of security agencies to this hate action. We remind Nigerians of the outcome of similar provocative actions in the past and their unpalatable outcomes. The National Film And Video Censors Board (NFVCB), a regulatory agency set up by Act No. 85 of 1993 to regulate films and the video industry has a case to answer. ‘Shaku Shaku’ video was shot and released under its watch. Instead of going violent, Nigerian Muslims should take those behind the ‘Shaku Shaku’ video to court in order to serve as a deterrent to others. We therefore give notice of impending legal action against the artist behind the ‘Shaku Shaku’ video unless the latter is withdrawn and an apology is widely published within seven days.”

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