The contractor handling the rebuilding of the demolished church and mosque at Ijeh Police Barracks, Obalende, Lagos, has allegedly sworn not to rebuild the mosque because he is a Catholic, despite having already started work on the church building.
Meanwhile, the Islamic human rights body, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has called on the contractor not to build the church in isolation, warning that doing so would not only contravene the terms of the contract but also amount to an extreme manifestation of religious bias.
In a statement circulated to the media on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, the group’s Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, called on the Nigerian Police authorities to call the contractor handling the twin project to order.
MURIC stated:
“The contractor handling the rebuilding of the church and mosque at Ijeh Police Barracks, Obalende, Lagos—which were demolished between August 31 and September 1, 2026—has allegedly sworn not to rebuild the mosque because he is a Catholic, although he has already started work on the church building.
“Ijeh Police Barracks is a famous, historic police installation on St. Gregory’s College Road, Ikoyi. It sits at the heart of Lagos and contains one of the largest concentrations of police residential blocks in Nigeria.
“Considering the large population of both Muslim and Christian police officers and their families, no reasonable authority would ignore the necessity of siting worship centers in such a location. If true, therefore, this report is not only saddening, but deeply disturbing and disgusting to say the least.
“The contractor must not build the church alone, because doing so contravenes the terms of the contract and amounts to a display of religious extremism.
“Anyone who lacks the liberalism and moderation to view a professional job purely from a professional perspective—and instead injects religion into contract execution—is unqualified to handle a project involving two different religious groups.
“It appears the Nigerian Police authorities have mistakenly awarded this contract to a religious fanatic, a certified extremist, and an undisguised Muslim-hater. He must be corrected or reined in before he sets Nigeria on fire.
“It should be noted that the funds for both the church and mosque are public funds—taxpayers’ money derived from both Muslims and Christians. Yet, Mr. Contractor has allegedly sworn to use these funds for the church alone. Should this be allowed?
“You cannot be more Catholic than the Pope. Reports already show that even Pope Francis allocated a special space for his Muslim visitors to offer their prayers.
“If the Pope can provide space for Muslims to offer Salat in the Vatican, what stops Nigerian institutions from respecting religious diversity? Unfortunately, we still record instances where some Christian employers disallow Muslims from performing prayers at work or even attending Friday Jumu’ah prayers.
“Some deliberately schedule official assignments, tests, and examinations during Jumu’ah prayer hours to disenfranchise Muslim participants.
“For transparency, probity, and accountability, the contractor of this twin project must ensure that both constructions progress pari passu. That is how to build confidence. He must not abandon one for the other, and he should step aside for a more liberal contractor if his personal dogma forbids him from building a mosque.
“It was also alleged that the portion of land allocated to the mosque is smaller than that of the church—108 feet compared to 68 feet. This is unacceptable unless justified by independent property valuation or differential land costs.
“MURIC calls on the police authorities to address these two grievances. If Nigeria is a land of justice, fairness, and equal rights, a contractor cannot build the church and refuse to build the mosque after signing a contract to build both.
“Nor can the police authorities allegedly allocate 108 feet of land to Christians while giving just 68 feet to Muslims without transparent justification. Doing so violates the principles of natural justice.”
