Not only did he save one life, but by hiding 262 Christians in his mosque, the Muslim cleric saved them from the slaughtering hands of herdsmen last year on June 23, 2018 in Plateau State. To honour this humanitarian act of mercy towards others practising another faith, the US State Department, marking the principle of religious freedom as a core American value, awarded Abdullahi with the International Religious Freedom Award on July 18, 2019 – a befitting acknowledgement for his service to humanity.
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His actions were certainly risky and could have cost him his own life, but during a recent interview with the BBC, the Imam humbly admitted that he wanted to help because more than 40 years ago the Christians in the area had allowed the Muslims to build a mosque. The Imam was one of the five people honoured with the special award this year.
Imam Abdullahi, during the attacks in the night, dared the attackers by locking the doors of the Mosque after the Christians had entered while he stayed outside. When the trigger-happy assailants came and ordered him to open the doors so that they could go and slaughter the refugees inside, he refused, telling them that they could do that only after they had killed him.
Source: Guardian Newspaper.
