The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III has tasked governments at all levels to live up to expectations in their duty of protecting lives and properties of citizens.
The Sultan who was reacting to the recent Massacre of over 100 people in Plateau State by bandits wondered why government and security agencies could not detect the crime with its intelligence gathering apparatus before it happened.
Speaking at the 80th National Islamic Vacation Course (IVC) in Bauchi on Wednesday on the theme: The Position of Muslims in National and Economy: Where we are and where we ought to be, the Islamic leader enjoined Nigerians not to politicise insecurity.
“It is good for us to come closer and closer. This is one forum I try to encourage, because this is where we meet as brothers and sisters in Islam. I want us as Muslim to close ranks. Now there’s the serious issue of insecurity.
“Just a couple of days back, there was this clash in Plateau (state) where over a 100 lives were lost. Why do we keep on having these clashes? We always condemn such things, but after condemning these acts by bandits and criminals, what next?
“What are the roles of the government who are supposed to protect our lives and properties? They are not proactive? What happened to our intelligence gathering mechanism? Can anybody tell me that nobody knows that those attacks were coming up? Whether it is in Sokoto, in Bernin-Kebbi or Kaduna, have we lost our sense of gathering information to avert any of such heinous crimes? Why can’t you be proactive, why can’t you stop such attacks before they happen?” he queried.
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He further urged government to be proactive to prevent needless loss of lives in future, warning that bandits seem to be ahead because their plans go unnoticed before they happen.
“We must task government to up the game because these bandits are ahead. Some of us who have been opportune to serve in the military know the activities of security agencies. So we will keep on acting questions. What really is happening?
“Things are politicised. That is the worst way to go when you politicize insecurity. We all live in a country where we have poverty. Whether Muslims, Christians or people who don’t have religion, we all face the same reality.
“It the issue of leadership, but we have hope in the leadership that in the next months, things will change,” he added.
The Sultan also thanked his host, Governor Bala Mohammed who was represented by his deputy for providing support in making sure that the programme was successful.
