25th April, 2012
The Ansar-Ud-Deen Society Worldwide (ADS) says it has no affiliation with a group called ANSARDINE which took part in the recent armed conflict in Mali.
Alhaji Muibi Adebanjo, the Publicity Secretary of the organisation, said in a statement on Tuesday in Ibadan that ADS had never been involved in terrorist or rebel activities.
“Ansar-Ud-Deen Society founded 89 years ago in 1923 has no links whatsoever with the armed group which took power by force in Northern Mali,” he said.
He said the ADS was a foremost Islamic organisation established to propagate Islam, adding that it had achieved tremendous feats in the development of education in Nigeria.
“ We had severally over time condemned the heinous activities of terrorist groups within and outside Nigeria. “ We do not and would never have anything to do with such a group here in Nigeria, Mali or elsewhere in the world,” he said.
The ADS spokesman condemned the armed rebellion in Northern Mali, noting that “as Muslims, we believe in peaceful resolution of any human conflict regardless of its enormity as enjoined by the Holy Qur’an.”
A report had said ANSARDINE, linked to Al-Qaeda, participated in the recent forceful change of government by low ranking military officers in Mali. Adebanjo, however, said the ADS worldwide had never subscribed to the philosophy of Al-Qaeda, its ethos or any of its activities.
He said the organisation joined well-meaning countries and governments all over the world in condemning in its entirety the retrogressive tactics of the group while welcoming the return of peace to Mali