Sultan of Sokoto and president-general, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar (III) has declared that life is sacred, thus anybody who bombs himself thinking he will go to heaven is delusional.
The Sultan, who said this yesterday when he hosted security chiefs during the breaking of the Ramadan fast in his palace in Sokoto, further explained: “For us, one single life lost means a lot to us because life is sacred. You cannot love God if you do not love your neighbour and if we all agree that you cannot love God if you do not love your neighbour, then why are we having all these problems?” the Sultan asked.
While adding that the dreaded Boko Haram has now become a franchise used by many to commit series of crimes, the Sultan warned that any attempt to politicise the insecurity that is confronting Nigeria will not bring solutions.
His words: “When we politicise the security issue, there can never be a solution to it. We should not narrow it down to an ethnic or religious thing. Let us stop pointing accusing fingers and viewing terrorism as Hausa or Fulani issue. We must all join hands to fight insecurity because by the time you feel relaxed and say they should continue to kill themselves, by the time they finished killing themselves they will now get back to you. Therefore, let us collectively fight insecurity.
“Though, we might not know those behind this insecurity, but we should take our hands up to Almighty Allah to expose those doing these killings. We must also not pray and go to sleep. Let us continue to be proactive. Let us continue to work harder and sensitise our people on security matters.”
On how best to address the insurgents, the Sultan said, “Don’t call Boko Haram ‘Islamic militants’. A criminal is a criminal. Do not link him with his religion. The people doing this insecurity are very small compared to the millions of Muslims that are not in any way connected to insurgency.”
Insisting that unhealthy rivalry among security agencies is also another major setback towards tackling the situation, the Sultan advised that the situation where security agencies hide information from each other should be discontinued. [Leadership]