In what has sparked an uproar across the nation, the chief Imam of Apo Juma’at Mosque in Abuja, Sheikh Nuru Khalid, has been suspended by the mosque’s steering committee for criticizing President Muhammadu Buhari over Kaduna train bombing.

In his April 1 sermon, the Imam had criticized the president for failure to visit Kaduna over the daring terrorist attack, saying condemnation wasn’t enough.

Khalid had argued that the president was in Kaduna for campaign but refused to visit the state after the bomb attack.

He said “Everyone condemned the incident, except the bandits. So condemnation is not enough. The president should visit the state to sympathise with the victims.

“The president has been to Kaduna for campaigns but couldn’t go to the state on a sympathy visit”.

Harping on the reason behind the swift decision to relieve Khalid of his duties, the chairman of the mosque steering committee, Sai’du Dansadau, however, said the Imam was sacked for inciting sermon on April 1.

Delineating on the committee’s position, Sai’du stated that the Imam had preached against exercising civic duty by advising voters to give conditions to political leaders before electing them.

The chairman added that the sermon was against Islamic tenets.

The likes of Reno Omokri, Shehu Sani and Farouq Kperogi have inveighed the decision, describing it as the height of dictatorship and hypocrisy.