Turkey and espionage: Blackmail carried too far

Quite a number of Nigerians must have been alarmed at the story which appeared early in the week accusing the Turkish government of planning to register a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Nigeria called Ma’arif Foundation, which will among other things, be used as an espionage agency.

Kano-based Islamic group, Centre for Qur’anic Reciters of Nigeria which made the allegation had in a statement published in that report said, if allowed to be set up, the NGO could end up as a vehicle for spreading intolerance and extremism in the Nigeria and all over the world.

“If Nigeria allows Ma’arif or any such group in whatever nomenclature into Nigeria, chances are that the culture of intolerance that will be induced could well make Boko Haram a child’s play. This may sound far-fetched, but then 10 years ago, nobody thought Boko Haram was going to grow to become the big monster it has become,” the general secretary and CEO of the center, Sheikh Goni Sanusi Abubakar was quoted as saying.

The second leg of that story reported that security agencies had commenced investigation into the alleged espionage on Nigeria by Turkey and that Diyanet, Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs had been implicated in the alleged espionage.

The worry in many people’s mind stemmed from the fact that this allegation as weighty as it is was made by an Islamic group against Turkey which is an Islamic country that has over the years maintained cordial relation with Nigeria.

Emerging facts have it that the allegation is spurious and a calculated attempt to portray the government of President Recep Erdogan as irresponsible and working to destabilize Nigeria and other countries it has good bilateral relations with. One could only ask “what does Turkey stand to gain by carrying out espionage on Nigeria?”

Already a leading scholar and popular Qur’an reciter in Kano State averred that the Sheikh Goni Sanusi Abubakar quoted in the story was misled to assume responsibility for the comment owing to the fact that he lacked knowledge of the implication of such action.

“Sheikh Goni Sanusi Ababakar is not an educated person with knowledge of politics, national and international affairs and cannot comment on such things. He belongs to the almajiri system without any structure or organization and does not possess any knowledge of how to form and manage organisations,” he said.

Since the foiled coup attempt in Turkey, certain actions of the government, no doubt, have not gone down well with many people, thus, the bid to create disaffection between Nigeria and Turkey? To all intents and purposes, the allegation of espionage is blackmail carried too far. It should be halted now.

Adamu Sule, Abuja