The President-General of the Jamaatu Nasril Islam, Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Alh. Saad Abubakar lll, has lamented the high rate of insecurity in the North, saying it was the worst place in the country to live.
The Sultan, who stated this at the fourth quarterly meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council in Abuja, said bandits were fast overrunning the Northern region as residents now sleep with their eyes open.
While describing the North as the worst place to live, he said that bandits had become daring.
He further lamented that the bandits now move from house to house, village to village, market to market, with AK- 47 rifles openly, purchasing foodstuffs and other items and even collecting change without any challenge from the security agencies.
The foremost traditional ruler stated that the security system in the North had completely collapsed.
He said, Security situation in Northern Nigeria has assumed a worrisome situation. Few weeks ago, over 76 persons were killed in a community in Sokoto, in a day. I was there with the governor to commiserate with the affected community.
Unfortunately, you dont hear these stories in the media because its in the northern region. We have accepted the fact that the North does not have strong media to report the atrocities of these bandits.
People think North is safe, but that assumption is not true. In fact, its the worst place to be in this country because bandits go around in the villages, households and markets with their AK-47 and nobody is challenging them. They stop at the market, buy things, pay and collect change, with their weapons openly displayed. These are facts, I know because I am at the centre of it.
He further warned that, We have to sincerely and seriously find solutions to the problem, otherwise, we will find ourselves soon, in a situation where we would lose sleep because of insecurity.
The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Ignatius Kaigama, outlined a code of conduct for both Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.
He said, We Christians and Muslims must avoid imposing our religious views on others or denying them public amenities, jobs or influential positions because they dont belong to our faith”.
