Miss World and a prophet claim leads to arson
Rioters burned down a Nigerian newspaper office today in protest at an article suggesting the Prophet Muhammad might have favoured marrying a contestant in the Miss World beauty contest.
The local editorial and circulation office of the daily ThisDay in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna was destroyed in the fire, lit by a mob of angry Muslim demonstrators, police said.
Nobody was in the building when the mob attacked, said ThisDay editor Eniola Bello.
Newspaper staff in Kaduna have been put under police protection while hundreds of heavily armed security forces have been deployed to protect the offices in Kaduna and other cities around the West African nation of 120 million people, a police spokesman said.
ThisDay was “taking very seriously” letters from several Muslim groups expressing outrage, Bello said.
The offending article called The World at Their Feet questioned why some Muslim groups condemn the pageant, which is being held on December 8 in the capital, Abuja, on the grounds it promotes sexual promiscuity and indecency.
“The Muslims thought it was immoral to bring ninety-two women to Nigeria and ask them to revel in vanity. What would Muhammad think?
“In all honesty, he would probably have chosen a wife from among them,” wrote the article’s author, Isioma Daniel.
In the same issue, the paper published profiles and pictures of more than 60 Miss World contestants. More than 80 beauty queens from around the world are in the country for photo shoots and other preliminary events.
Yesterday, ThisDay carried a brief front page editor’s note apologising for “portions that may be considered offensive to our Muslim brothers.”
The uproar is just the latest controversy to hit the Miss World contest which has been boycotted by participants from at least five countries in protest at the sentencing of several Nigerian Muslim women to death by stoning for conceiving babies outside wedlock.
Muslim protests earlier forced the Miss World organisers to postpone the grand final until the end of the holy month of Ramadan. At least one Muslim group has embarked on a campaign of “black prayers” wishing plagues of illness and bad luck upon organisers and participants.
Miss World publicist Stella Din on Wednesday described the attack on ThisDay office as “deeply unfortunate,” while stressing the Miss World pageant does not support any statements deemed offensive to Muslims. She said the pageant hoped to reach out to Muslims to explain it “is not aimed at promoting promiscuity or immorality.”
