The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, has warned political and religious leaders as well as all Nigerians against politicising insecurity in the country.
There has been an increase in criminal activities as bandits, terrorists and other elements have been unleashing terror in the North-West, North-East and other parts of Nigeria.
Scores of people have been killed, kidnapped for ransom and raped with many properties destroyed, a situation that forced some state governments to shut down telecommunication services as precautionary steps to quell banditry in the North-West.
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Speaking in Abuja at a retreat on inclusive security organised by the Global Peace Foundation in collaboration with Vision Africa, the Sultan assessed the nation’s security situation and said all was not well with the nation.
“We must not politicise insecurity because hunger does not know politics, religion. Everybody has been complaining of hunger in the land and it is true,” the Sultan said.
“One of the major problems we all know is that a hungry man is an angry man. It is important for us, whenever we meet as religious, political leaders, we must always look at one thing. Let us observe humanity first.”
He also decried the spate of killings in the country, asking the government to provide a stable environment for Nigerians to observe their religious beliefs.
Despite the worsening insecurity, Abubakar is optimistic that Nigeria can confront the numerous security challenges.
As a way forward, the Sultan called for cooperation among all Nigerians regardless of their political, religious or ethnic differences.
He said, “We find people killing innocent people either in the name of religion or in the name of banditry, terrorism or whatever it is. That is why we keep on calling on all of us to go back to our Holy Books and work with the wordings of the Holy Quoran for us Muslims and the Bible for Christians.
“It is an important thing for us to always look back and discuss some of these issues openly. In Nigeria, we must stop laying blames. Whatever happened has happened and it will continue to happen unless we come together at least to address the situations.”
