Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, Sultan of Sokoto, says there are ongoing killings that are not reported.
He said this at the third Quarter 2021 Meeting of the Intra-Religious Council in Abuja on Thursday.
The monarch, who said security situation in the country has taken a downward trend, vowed to keep on speaking the truth to power.
He said, “In Sokoto alone, there was a day we buried 76 people, they were killed in cold blood by criminals, people don’t hear about that one, there was a day we buried 48 people in the same Sokoto, but we don’t hear about that one.
“All the people committing these atrocities must be identified, our security agencies must up their game, identify them and take action on them, whether he is a religious leader or an ethnic leader.”
Warning against involvement of foreign intervention, the Sultan said, “We must be serious in stopping this carnage but if we want to stop it, you allow foreign powers to come and play the game we don’t know how to play and it will be too bad for us. I am making these comments with all seriousness because we are so disturbed by the way things are going.
“There is a lot of hate speech from religious leaders, political leaders, you cannot kill innocent people in the name of religion and claim that you are going to heaven, you are deceiving yourself, you are going to hell.
“All these people calling for such activities must be identified and our security agencies must up their game and take action against them.
“Whether it is a religious leader, ethnic leader or traditional leader, he must be made to face the law, because there is nobody who is above the law,” he said.
Speaking on the theme of the council meeting which is “Making Nigerians Healthy To Achieve Peaceful Society,” the Sultan said he believes that attaining peace requires honest dialogue.
A report by Daily Trust newspaper