The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has urged Nigerian citizens to take the COVID-19 vaccine without reservation.
MURIC Director Ishaq Akintola said this in a statement in Lagos on Saturday.
“The whole country is aware of the arrival of about 4 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines since Tuesday, March 2.
“It is our candid opinion that Nigerians cannot afford to sit on the fence in the face of daunting COVID-19 statistics around the world.
“COVID-19 vaccine is designed to give protection to those who take it by making their bodies produce substances known as antibodies whose function is to fight disease.
“We have seen our leaders (both at the federal and state levels) taking the injection. This is to build confidence in us,” he said.
He urged Muslim faithful and the rest of the citizenry to embrace the vaccine.
“Let us obey our leaders as enshrined in the Glorious Qur’an (4:59),” he said.
He therefore called on cynics to have a rethink, face reality and accept the vaccine.
“We are concerned with the right of every Nigerian to live a healthy life free from any disease.
“In particular, we believe that Nigerian lives matter as no Nigerian deserves to lose his life to any epidemic when a panacea has been made available,” he said.