Shameful, Weird

The alleged sexual abuse of children by 32-year-old Mallam Ibrahim Salley as captured in a front page story of the Daily Guide newspaper yesterday was both disturbing and mind-boggling. Just why an Islamic teacher or Mallam under whose care the kids were put would decide to descend to this level where lesser animals would not venture is beyond our ken. The vulnerability of children at the hands of such persons as the suspect under review, who parade themselves as clerics only to exhibit their uncontrollable libido and un-Islamic colours is something which should attract the attention of the nation and indeed policymakers. We are aware that there is an Islamic Education Unit under the Ghana Education Service (GES) whose mandate we think includes the regulation of Islamic education. It would therefore not be inimical to the scale of reference of this unit, when its personnel embark upon the inspection of the Islamic schools such as Mallam Ibrahim Salley�s, to ensure that they conform to acceptable standards. Mallam Ibrahim Salley�s conversion of part of his house into a madrasat or makaranta or better still Islamic school provided him with the impetus to satisfy his animalistic instinct. It would be interesting to find out how much he would tell the Police as they commence interrogating him about his sexual abuse of the kids who were paradoxically sent to him for moral education and literacy. His story is not the only one. There have been many instances of some Mallams, just like teachers in the normal western schools, unleashing their libidos on innocent kids. Mallam Ibrahim Salley is as interesting as it is regrettable. Residents in the neighbourhood, it is instructive, did not deem it necessary to report the moral aberration to the law enforcement agency. But for the Daily Guide publication and the subsequent swift reaction by the Police, we can bet the story would have remained in the neighbourhood as elders criminally keep it under wraps with the assurance that they would settle it amicably. Such matters under both the English law and Sharia are not the kind which should be dealt with by the usual Ghanaian �leaving things to God� when there are specific sanctions for them. Let us be our neighbours� keepers by showing interest in whatever happens in the neighbourhoods in which we live and to cultivate the habit of seeking the intervention of the law enforcement agents when we suspect anomalies which border on criminality. As for the victims of the sexual adventures of Mallam Ibrahim Salley, they must be fished out and the necessary health drills on them carried out to isolate health conditions they could have contracted and the appropriate measures applied. This is shameful and crazy and we agree with the National Chief Imam, who has asked that when it is established beyond reasonable doubts that the suspect really committed the crime he should be dealt with according to the law.