The men, who claimed they had come to invite the professor to a conference, made spirited efforts to gain entrance into the house but were denied entry consequent upon their failure to dial Akintola’s phone number to prove they knew him.
This was narrated in a statement issued on Wednesday by Mallam Yakeen Williams, Shefiu Ayorinde, General Secretary and Public Relations Officer of MURIC, adding that the unknown visitors left after promising to return the next day but that nothing has been heard from them since.
The group expressed suspicion that the incident was either an attempt to kidnap or assassinate its Director, calling on the government to provide maximum security for Akintola, who it called a special asset to Nigeria.
Specifically calling on the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, to guarantee the safety of the activist and his household, MURIC recalled “a more brutal attack on the residence of Professor Akintola which took place three years ago. The attack which was carried out by six heavily armed men occurred around 1.20 am.
“It was clear that they were killers because they entered the building shooting sporadically without demanding for money or any other thing.
“Although Allah saved the Islamic scholar from the intruders, his wife, Alhaja Aminat Akintola, was shot. One of the vigilante men in the area was killed while two of the attackers were also shot,” it said.
The statement ended by calling on Islamic scholars and the general public to be security conscious, emphasizing that “under no circumstances should strangers be allowed into people’s homes”.
