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Religious leaders inciting violence must face the law― Sultan
Modupe Shodeinde
The Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III has said called on security agencies to question religious and political leaders inciting violence in the public.
He also said 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 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.
