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Sultan, Akintola decry killing of innocent souls

By Sulaimon Salau
12 October 2018   |   2:00 am
President-general, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has condemned the gruesome murder of innocent souls in The Plateau.

Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar

President-general, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has condemned the gruesome murder of innocent souls in The Plateau.

The Sultan condemned in specific terms the unspeakable disappearance of Major General Idris Alkali (rtd) and the gruesome murder of several other Muslims, including Zayyanu Shallah, Manager, Department of Universal Service and Provision Fund, Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), and Jubril Mailafia, an award-winning Film Editor and Animator, in the same community.

He said: “As responsible and civilised people, we must all collectively and unanimously condemn the killing of innocent souls regardless of whoever is perpetrating it and or whoever may be the victims.

“All human souls are sacred and they must be equally protected and valued. The usual silence of some self-styled religious leaders when their people are the perpetrators of crime and their cantankerous posturing and raucous cacophony when their followers are perceived as victims of mayhem smack of hypocrisy and wickedness in the sight of God and indeed in the sight of all just, fair and humane people,” he said.

Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Professor Ishaq Akintola, alleged that the Berom Christian community was responsible for the killing of hundreds of innocent Muslim and Fulani travelers. The group charged the Nigerian Army to find the missing general dead or alive.

Formerly a haven of peace and a pride to the nation, Plateau State, especially the three Local Government Areas of Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Jos South, has relapsed into a state of anomie, a condition of intermittent, internecine and seemingly intractable violence.He however stated that government must not allow the perpetrators of this heinous crime in the Plateau axis of evil to go scot-free in the guise of playing politics.

“This is a moment of testing the commitment of government and political will to put an end to impunity in Nigeria. We demand that government ensure that justice is done and that the law takes its full course. This is the only sure way of engendering good governance, responsible leadership and enduring peace and stability in the country.

“Nations/governments do survive on justice even if they are led by infidels, but they do not survive on injustice, even if they are led by believers in God. We cannot afford to continue as a nation of actions without consequences. We, therefore, insist that in the spirit of the change mantra, the killing fields and ponds of Jos will be thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators brought to book to serve as deterrent to other terrorists,” he said.

Meanwhile, Akintola, commended the Nigerian Army for living up to expectation and for conducting the operation in a professional manner. He urged the army to leave no stone unturned in its effort to bring a lasting solution to the recurrent Jos crisis. He further called for the prosecution of all those arrested after the army might have completed its operation.

“The army should also maintain a heavy presence in the Berom community for a very long time. They should not leave until the community leaders, including the youth leaders and members of the excutive of the various Berom societies sign an undertaking never to block the highways again. This is very important. “The Beroms have no business blocking the highway each time they have a disagreement with their neighbours. Why should they vent their deadly spleen on innocent Fulani and Muslim travelers? It is religious extremism taken to the highest pedestal,” he stated.

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