The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has said that bandits always appeared to be one step ahead, urging the government and security agencies to be proactive to stop incessant killings in the country.
The revered monarch stated this on Wednesday at the 80th edition of the National Islamic Vocation Course (IVC) in Bauchi, where he condemned the Plateau attacks that left no fewer than 148 persons dead.
He said it was not enough for government and security agencies to condemn killings in the country but they must also step up intelligence gathering to prevent future occurrences.
“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 deaths? The Tudun Biri incident is still fresh with us and now the recent on the Plateau,” the Sultan said.
The retired brigadier-general added, “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 knew about such attacks?
“In various places whether in Sokoto, Kebbi or 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.”
The Sultan said it was unfortunate the insecurity has been politicised in the country.
“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 foodstuff, enter the same vehicles and 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’s have confidence in leadership that within the next few months something will change,” he said.
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