The Sultan, who noted that bandits were holding the
region, especially North West, spellbound, expressed
concerned that most of the killings were not being
reported or underreported.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the fourth quarterly
meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), he
accused the elite of being responsible for the unending
security challenges.
“We need to sit down and talk about ourselves. We need
to come up with possible solutions to the problems of
Nigeria, particularly as regards rising insecurity. In this
room, we are the minority, we are the elites and the elites
are the problems of this country because we always want
things to go our way.”
The Sultan lamented that terrorists unleash terror on
communities and kill people on a daily basis in the north
“freely” and should be stopped forthwith.
“Evidently, Nigeria is faced with series of challenges, and
if leaders doesn’t wake up, come together to understand
the issues facing the country, the challenges might
escalate and possibly consume all.
“Let’s not deceive ourselves, everything is not all right in
our country, and I have spoken about it repeatedly in
different fora. To know that you have a problem means
you have part of the solution. The earlier we rise to the
occasion, come together, the better for us.”
The Sultan reminded some religious leaders of the
enormous respect, loyalty and followership they
command, hence they should guide their utterances and
actions particularly towards their followers to avoid
unnecessary bitterness and incitement.
“We have to be careful in the way we handle, say and do
things as religious leaders. We are not political leaders,
and therefore, we have to be weary of what we say, where
and how we say such things, because our followers will
definitely believe in what we say and feel that it is from
the Holy Koran or the Holy Bible.”
President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Dr.
Samson Ayokunle Olasupo, also complained about
activities of kidnappers and other criminals on Nigerian
roads.
“Travelling on Nigerian roads has become a very great risk
now. Kidnapper are everywhere and they don’t only come
out to kidnap but also to kill. So, you don’t know who the
next victim is going to be.
“Why should these people be killing and hiding people in
our territory without being challenged? Why should it be
easy for them to hide people somewhere within the state
and the security agencies in the state within few days or
weeks will not be able to fish them out?” he queried.
The CAN president, who is co-chairman of NIREC, thus,
advocated intelligence gathering to tackle the challenge.
He advised Nigerians to volunteer information to security
agencies so that the movement of criminals could be
traced and apprehended ahead of time.
The Executive Secretary of NIREC, Rev. Fr. Cornelius
Omonokhua, in his opening remarks, stressed the
importance of synergy between Christians and Muslims in
the fight against terrorism and insecurity.
“No terrorist can be a religious person and no religious
person can be a terrorist. We must come together now to
pray and fight those who have waged war against
humanity in Nigeria, he advised.
