The Northern Traditional Rulers Council (NTRC) which is led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has decried the rising wave of killings and unrelenting insecurity in the region and has warned President Bola Tinubu of consequences if his government fails to bring an end to them.
The Sultan who expressed deep frustration over the insecurity situation in the north during the 7th Executive Committee Meeting of the NTRC in Maiduguri, Borno State on Tuesday, said the traditional rulers were more concerned about the deteriorating situation than politicians and called for decisive action from the Tinubu-led government to stop the spate of wanton killings ravaging the region.
Speaking on the theme “Enhanced Security As Panacea For Stability and Development of the North,” the Sultan said:
“Our coming together as traditional rulers in the North, I believe we have more than 86 in the North. We will speak with one voice to say ‘enough is enough’ of this senseless killing of innocent people across the North and across the country.
“We have released so many statements of condemnations, but how many times do we need to condemn these killings before our political leaders and security agencies stop or reduce the insecurity in the country to the barest minimum?
“We, the traditional rulers, feel bad and saddened when our people are killed by people we don’t know.
“It’s high time we worked harder, talked to ourselves and in closed door meetings discussed it. We shall advise our political leaders, they are at the helm of affairs and we will work with them.
“As traditional rulers, we are not competing with governors of our states, we are only helping them. We will not and will never be in contention with political leadership or governors,” he emphasized.
Also speaking on the resurgence of the Boko Haram sect in the state, the NTRC leader said:
“We heard some comments that Boko Haram is returning, and I say Insha Allah (God willing) Almighty Allah will give us the strength and wherewithal to defeat them
“Yes, there is insecurity in some parts of Borno, but there is insecurity everywhere in the world, not only in Nigeria.
“For some of us that have gone round the world will know, more people are being killed in some developed countries everyday than the total amount of people killed in Nigeria in one month or two months.
“What happened in Plateau yesterday (Monday) and within the week, over 100 people were killed. It’s very bad because people appear from somewhere, kill you and they are never arrested.
“Before them, people were killed in Sokoto on Sallah day, killed in Kebbi, and so many other places. If you put together the total number of people killed in the country in the last one month it is so high.
“In every tribe or religion, there are good and bad eggs. So, let’s not look at some people and say they are the cause of our problems.”
© Ripples Nigeria
