By Abubakar Yunusa
Hundreds of youths on Friday staged rallies across major cities to mark the annual International Quds Day, showing solidarity with the Palestinian people.
In the Federal Capital Territory, participants converged on the National Mosque in Abuja for Juma’at prayers before embarking on a peaceful procession around the area.
Many of them waved banners and placards bearing pro-Palestine messages while chanting slogans calling for global attention to the humanitarian situation in the Middle East.
Security operatives were sighted around the mosque precinct, but the march ended without any reported incident.
Similar activities were recorded in cities including Kano, Sokoto, Lagos and Ibadan, as organisers described the turnout as encouraging.
Quds Day is observed yearly on the last Friday of Ramadan. The event was instituted in 1979 by Iran’s late leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, to mobilise support for Palestinians.
In Nigeria, members of the Islamic Movement led by Ibraheem Zakzaky have sustained the tradition for over four decades through lectures, awareness campaigns and public processions.
Speaking on the development, Shaikh Sidi Munir Mainasara Sokoto said the observance was aimed at drawing attention to what he described as the “plight of the oppressed Palestinian people”.
“International Quds Day is an annual event held on the last Friday of Ramadan to express solidarity with Palestinians,” he said.
He added that activities marking the day were also taking place in cities across Europe, North America, Africa and Asia, stressing that the Palestinian cause remained “a pressing moral issue for people of conscience worldwide”.
