For the erstwhile President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Mustapha Akanbi, members of the Boko Haram sect are desecrating Islam through their activities.

Justice Akanbi, pioneer chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), made the remark in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital at the weekend.

It was at the 2nd Ramadan lecture organised by Ma-assalaam Islamic Foundation in conjunction with Mustapha Akanbi Foundation.

Justice Akanbi said: "The sect has given Islam a bad name. When we were growing up, there was nothing like Boko Haram. All this nonsense can be remedied if men and women of faith muster the courage to enlighten us more about Islam.

Akanbi's lecture was entitled: "The Muslims and Society in Nigeria: Challenges, prospects and solutions."

The Grand Khadi of the Kwara State Sharia Court, Justice Idris Haroon, who chaired the occasion, said the corporate existence of Nigeria was being threatened by the challenges facing Islam.

His words: "More than ever before, Islam today is encountering a lot of challenges, which are threatening the nation's sovereignty and unity.

"The co-existence of this great country and its unity, which was laboured for by our forefathers and preserved by those great patriotic Nigerians, is now at the verge of collapse.

"Unless God-fearing ones among us rise quickly, it may be too late to rescue this nation from the looming doom.

"One will be amazed and totally embarrassed, considering the message of Islam and what is now happening in our land regarding freedom of worship, attacks here and there from both Muslims and Christian against one another."