All religious leaders inciting public must be arrested •124 persons killed, buried in Sokoto •Attack on NDA shows no place is safe in Nigeria ― CAN

The Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III has said that all the unknown gunmen perpetrating evil across the country must be identified and prosecuted.

Speaking at the 3rd Quarter 2021 Council Meeting of the Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC) in Abuja, Sultan Abubakar expressed worry over the level of insecurity in the country, noting that things are not getting better.

He wondered why unknown people kill so many people and nothing is done when there are security and intelligence agencies in the country.

“All of us are very worried about the level of insecurity in this country. And I keep on saying it, things are not getting better, and I will continue saying it.

“How can they be unknown, unknown people kill so many people and nothing is done, where are our intelligence agencies don’t we have a proactive intelligence agency that will see ahead of anybody or any criminal that is trying to do something? I am a military man and I know what I am talking about.”

The Sultan queried why do religious leaders come out in the public domain and say so many nasty things that will raise tension.

“The Co-Chairman (CAN President) made a remark of one Islamic leader, I have never heard of it until I saw that video, and I know somebody in Plateau who made a very terrible video calling on the youths to rise up and kill Muslims, it’s all over the social media.

“What are our security agencies doing, can’t they invite these people and ask them what they really mean? Nobody should be above the law, whether a Christian or a Muslim, you cannot incite people to kill innocent people,” he added.

He said killings and burials have been going on in Sokoto East, where several persons have been killed and buried without media coverage.

“In Sokoto alone, there was a day we buried 76 people, they were killed in cold blood by criminals, people don’t hear about that one, there was a day we buried 48 people in the same Sokoto, but we don’t hear about that one,” he said.

“All the people committing these atrocities must be identified, our security agencies must up their game, identify them and take action on them, whether he is a religious leader or an ethnic leader.”

Addressing the religious leaders, Sultan Abubakar said “as religious leaders, it is important for us to always tell the truth, we shouldn’t be afraid, to tell the truth. Why should religious leaders come to the public domain and make nasty comments that can raise tension?

“What I am saying is that all these people that are committing criminal activities whether religious, traditional or political leaders must be identified and be made to face the law.

“We must be serious in stopping this carnage but if we want to stop it, you allow foreign powers to come and play the game we don’t know how to play and it will be too bad for us. I am making these comments with all seriousness because we are so disturbed by the way things are going.

“There is a lot of hate speech from religious leaders, political leaders, you cannot kill innocent people in the name of religion and claim that you are going to heaven, you are deceiving yourself, you are going to hell,” the Sultan noted.

On his part, the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Samson Ayokunle said the state of the nation presently is not healthy because of insurgents attacks.

He said bandits now enter into town and the so-called secured places with reckless audacity to kidnap people and kill.

“Police stations and even the Nigerian Defence Academy was not spared, these are the people we depend upon for security, but they also need to be secured, if the army are not safe in their own barracks in the hands of bandits, who then can be safe?”

The CAN President said the military should be encouraged to sustain an onslaught against criminals and bring those apprehended to book, he added that without this, criminalities will continue to increase and the citizens endangered more.

“We must all be concerned about the attacks of bandits to communities in the North West and North Central. It is time for the security agencies to take the battle against these criminals in their hideout.

“I think the insult the bandits did to the army was not only a wake-up call to them but a good development for us because the military and all those at the so-called safe haven now know that they are not safe at all.

“It is now compulsory for them to take the battle to where these criminals are, they need to boost their intelligence gathering and be more proactive in apprehending the criminals before they commit their evil act.

“Any sincere Nigerian at this stage should be worried about the state we are in our nation, it is extremely frightening.”

He told religious leaders, it is time for them to unanimously condemn these criminalitieswithout any form of religious or ethnic sentiments before it consumes all of them.

“We religious leaders will equally be circumspect about what we say, because after the killing of the religious pilgrims in Jos, a Muslim Cleric Sheikh Abubakar Zaria in a video that went viral, came out to say that there would be reprisal attacks, and due to what he said, reprisal attacks has been happening.

“Such a man in my opinion does not care if the nation is set on fire, in a more proactive and sincere society, such a man should be invited by the DSS for making an inflammatory statement,” he added.

Speaking on the issue of amnesty for Boko Haram, Reverend Ayokunle said it is a very controversial issue, that the government is advised to consult with stakeholders widely before taking the decision.

“It will include the governors where the insurgency is predominant, the surviving victims of insurgency as well as the opinion and religious leaders.

“If other criminals face the wrath of the law, why should people who have murdered their fellow Nigerians, maimed many, raped many and sent many away from their homeland will be allowed to go scot-free?

“How are we sure that they will not go back to their criminality after they have been released into the society?” and he wondered.

“If we grant amnesty to these criminals who committed capital offences, how can we justify punishment for armed robbers, looters of treasuries and other criminals in the land,” he added.

The secretary to the government of the Federal, Boss Mustapha said the situation in Nigeria today called for the deepening of political and religious collaboration at all times.

“As a body, we must continue to build an environment where prejudice, intolerance, violence and other vices will remain alien to our culture and practices.

“The federal government would continue to give all necessary support to religious and traditional leaders to promote peace and unity in the country,” he noted.

Culled from the Tribune News Nigeria