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Sultan to Nigerians: stop blame game, unite against terrorists, other criminals

Published

3 years ago

December 10, 2021

Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III

• CAN boss tasks security agencies to learn from US

Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III yesterday advised Nigerians to desist from the blame game and unite against terrorists, bandits, and other criminal elements in the country.

Alhaji Abubakar, who lamented the rising insecurity in the country urged Muslims to stop accusing Christians of promoting killings in the North.

He also called on Christians to disregard the recent threat by unknown persons to kill anyone found in churches in Zamfara State.

At the fourth quarterly meeting of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) in Abuja where the Sultan spoke, Christian Association of Nigeria President Samson Ayokunle urged security agencies to learn from the United States, strategies for tackling insecurity.

The meeting with the theme: ”NIREC, security agencies and peace in Nigeria” was also attended by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha and a former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Martin Luther Agwai.

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The monarch expressed displeasure over the killings and kidnappings in the country and enjoined Muslims, Christians, and adherents of other religions to stop the blame game.

He said: “The blame game has to stop so that we can work in unity to overcome” those he described as “our common enemies. If I continue talking about the insecurity in the North, we will not leave this room. A few days ago, we read media reports on how people were killed in a bus in Sokoto. There is no single day that passes without people being killed in the North especially in the Northwest.

“When I saw a note that the bandits are threatening Christians in Zamfara, I asked what is the work of our security agencies?

“I will not stop going to the mosque to pray because I saw in a paper that if I go to the mosque I will be killed, let me be killed, I must die, so Christians should not be afraid of going to church to worship because an anonymous person is threatening them.”

The Sultan said since Nigeria has many challenges, it “behoves on leaders to wake up and come together to understand and tackle them.”

The Sultan added: ”Let’s not deceive ourselves, everything is not alright. I have said this so many times. Knowing that you have a problem makes it easy for you to solve it. The earlier we rise up to the occasion together, the better for us,”

He charged religious leaders to be wary of the kind of things they say to their followers who believe that they rely on the Bible and Koran.

While advocating dialogue to address some of the challenges in the country, Sultan Abubakar said the elite are the major problems of the nation.

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“I believe dialogue is the best option. We must come up with possible solutions to our problems. The elite are the problems of this country because they always want things to go our way,” he added.

Rev. Ayokunle recalled the way and manner the US rescued its abducted citizen in Nigeria from Boko Haram and advised security agencies to learn from that operation.

He wondered why persons would be kidnapped and the security could not trace them and their abductors through intelligence.

The CAN boss said he was particularly worried that Nigerian roads “have become a den of kidnappers and a no-go-area for travellers”

He said:”Travelling from one point to another by road, in particular, has become a very great risk, kidnappers are everywhere and they don’t only come out to kidnap but also to kill, so you don’t know who the next victim is going to be.

“Why should these people be killing and hiding people in our territory without being challenged, why should it be easy for them to hide people somewhere within the state and the security agencies in the state within a few days or weeks will not be able to fish them out?”

Ayokunle, therefore, called for an increase in intelligence gathering, and on the public to volunteer information to the security agencies.

The Nation

Related Topics:criminals Featured Nigerians Sultan Terrorists

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Kidnap kingpin who abducted 20, collected N70m, arrested in Taraba

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November 18, 2024

Trends Admin

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Kidnap kingpin who abducted 20, collected N70m, arrested in Taraba

Troops from the 6 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Jalingo, Taraba State, have arrested a suspect who confessed to abducting 20 individuals and extorting N70 million in ransom.

Captain Oni Olubodunde, the Acting Assistant Director of Public Relations for the brigade, said in a statement that Suleiman Ahmed, a resident of Bomanda village in Lau LGA, was apprehended on November 12, 2024, during an anti-kidnapping operation conducted in Maraban Abbare, Bomanda, and Karamuke villages.

“The operation was targeted at curbing kidnapping activities in Lau LGA. During initial investigations, Suleiman Ahmed confessed to abducting 20 people and collecting over N70 million in ransom,” Captain Oni said.

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He said the suspect also admitted to using an AK-47 rifle in his criminal operations.

“A follow-up operation on November 15 led to the recovery of the weapon from a concealed location and the arrest of one of Ahmed’s accomplices, identified as Hussaini.

“The troops also apprehended a suspected gunrunner at his residence in Mayo Dassa, Lau LGA,” he said.

Captain Oni emphasised that the 6 Brigade remains resolute in its commitment to ensuring the safety and security of residents in Taraba State, continuing to intensify efforts to dismantle criminal networks in the state.

Kidnap kingpin who abducted 20, collected N70m, arrested in Taraba

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Obasanjo’s comment on Tinubu mischievous, says Afenifere chief

Published

19 mins ago

November 18, 2024

Trends Admin

President Bola Ahmed tinubu, Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

Obasanjo’s comment on Tinubu mischievous, says Afenifere chief

The National Organising Secretary of Afenifere, Mr Kole Omololu, has said President Bola Tinubu’s short stay in office has shown signs of outperforming former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s record.

The chieftain of the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation said in a statement yesterday that the emerging gains of the president’s economic reforms gave hope that the nation was on a trajectory of recovery, growth, and development.

Omololu, in reaction to Obasanjo’s claim on Saturday that Nigeria had become a failing state under President Tinubu, said the former president’s assertion was incorrect given the increasing gains being made under the president.

Delivering a keynote address at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum, Yale University, New Haven, at the weekend in Connecticut, USA, the former president, in his recorded lecture titled, ‘Leadership Failure and State Capture in Nigeria, said the country’s pervasive corruption, mediocrity, immorality, misconduct, mismanagement, perversion, injustice, incompetence, and all other forms of iniquity confirmed Nigeria’s failing state status under the president.

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However, Omololu said Obasanjo’s conclusions were inaccurate and mischief from the former president’s habitual attention-seeking.

“This is typical Obasanjo grandstanding. As the late President Shehu Shagari wrote about him in his autobiography, ‘Beckoned To Serve,’ Obasanjo is an egotistical narcissist who cannot stand not being the centre of attention and the cynosure of all eyes. He will engage in serial acts of incitement to attract the spotlight to himself,” he stated.

Saying Obasanjo had persistently criticised his successors unduly, Omololu contended that Tinubu’s managerial, moral and anti-corruption records were shoulder above the former president’s.

The Afenifere chieftain said the president’s economic reforms, including the withdrawal of petrol subsidies and the unification of forex rates, were bold measures the former president did not have the courage to take while in office.

He said these measures had shored up the nation’s revenue and helped it to reduce its debt service ratio from 97% to 65% of income within 17 months.

He added that Nigeria, under Tinubu, had achieved a new record in its trade balance, with an unprecedented N14.07 trillion trade surplus by half-year 2024, pointing out that the administration’s non-oil revenue in one quarter was more than the total generated during Obasanjo’s eight years in office.

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Omololu queried, “How can President Obasanjo talk of mismanagement when, on Thursday, March 28, 2024, the Nigerian Stock Exchange crossed 104,562.06 All Shares Index, a 39.84% increase year-to-date, making it the second-best performing exchange in Africa?”

The Afenifere chieftain also disputed the former president’s assessment of the president’s anti-corruption record, stating that the top global transparency rating agency, Transparency International, reported a more positive evaluation.

“Transparency International says Nigeria is less corrupt today than during the Obasanjo administration,” he said, adding, “Nigeria improved on TI’s Corruption Perception Rating this year, moving five places from 150 in 2023 to 145 in 2024. In contrast, under Obasanjo, Nigeria was rated the second-most corrupt nation in the world, with only Bangladesh ahead of us in 2002. Out of 102 nations, Nigeria was number 101.”

Omololu pointed out that Obasanjo and his deputy, Atiku Abubakar, publicly exposed themselves via a nasty public exchange exposing their dirty dealings.

Omololu said Obasanjo, who could not manage his deputy, Atiku, lacked the moral authority to accuse Tinubu of immorality and mismanagement.

“If you could not manage your Presidency, what moral authority do you have to call the man who has managed his government and party with almost military efficiency a mediocre?” he queried.

Obasanjo’s comment on Tinubu mischievous, says Afenifere chief

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Gunmen abduct NDLEA officers in Delta

Published

44 mins ago

November 18, 2024

Trends Admin

Gunmen abduct NDLEA officers in Delta

Gunmen have abducted officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Delta State, sparking concerns over rising insecurity in the are.

Reports indicate that the armed assailants ambushed the officers and their orderly near the agency’s state headquarters at around 8:00 pm as they were returning home from work.

The attackers, believed to have monitored the victims’ routine, intercepted them along the Isah-Ogwashi-Uku Road in Aniocha South Local Government Area.

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Sources familiar with the incident suggested that the kidnappers may have received insider information to carry out the attack.

Efforts to obtain a comment from the NDLEA State Command’s spokesperson, Mr. John Kennedy, were unsuccessful, as he declined to speak on the matter.

This incident follows a troubling trend in Ogwashi-Uku, where five people have reportedly been kidnapped in the past 10 days. The recent wave of abductions has left residents in fear, with criminals allegedly adopting new strategies to elude law enforcement.