SOKOTO (Sundiata Post) – The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar has condemned the killing of over 150 people in Plateau State by bandits on Christmas Eve.
The Sultan while speaking at the 80th edition of the National Islamic Vocation Course (IVC) on Wednesday, December 27, 2023, said bandits are always a step ahead of the government.
He said, “We only condemned such things but after condemning such activities by these bandits and criminals what next? What are the rest of the government who are supposed to protect our lives and property (doing)? Why do we keep on having these clashes, why do we keep on having these deaths caused by ourselves? The Tudun Biri incident is still fresh with us and now the incident in the Plateau.”
The monarch also questioned the strategy of the security agencies saying, “Why can’t you be proactive to stop such attacks before they happen?”
“What happened to our intelligence-gathering mechanism? Are you telling me that nobody knows that such attacks are coming on?
“In various places whether in Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna or anywhere, have we lost our sense of gathering information to avert any or such key loss? We must ask our government to be up and doing because these bandits are always a step ahead.”
He maintained that insecurity in the country has been politicised, adding that the killings of innocent people are not religious but leadership problems.
“We are all in one big country where we have poverty. Yes, Muslims, Christians and even those who don’t have religion go to the same market and they buy the same food stuff, enter the same vehicles pay the same fares.
“So it is not the issue of religion, let’s not tell ourselves that anybody is planning anything against Muslims or Christians. No, it is the issue of leadership and I have said many times that let have confidence in leadership that within the next few months something will change. Let’s keep on having hope because the moment we lose hope I am telling you we are finished,” he said.
