The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar, has lamented over the
increased rate of killings across the country, calling for an end to the
“incessant bloodshed.”
The religious leader was one of the speakers at a National Summit held on
Thursday Abuja. He said killings must be ended before Nigeria can witness
development.
“There’s been too much bloodshed in Nigeria. The bloodshed of innocent
people who don’t know what is happening. And it is across the country. If
we don’t tame the senseless killing of innocent people, we cannot see
peace, we cannot have peace, we cannot have any development,” he said.
Other traditional and religious leaders at the event include the National
President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Samson
Ayokunle, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi. They joined voices
with the Sultan to call for an end to bloodletting across Nigeria.
In Sultan, in his speech added that “One thing that is clear is that
everybody is talking positively about what must happen in Nigeria.
“As Christians and Muslims, we know the sacredness of life. We cannot go
about killing innocent people and claiming to be doing so in the name of
religion. All of us must rise up against those people and let them know
that this is not our religion.”
He stressed that Nigerians cannot continue to kill and spill innocent
blood in the name of religion when both Islam and Christianity preaches
the sacredness of life which should be respected by all.
The Ooni of Ife Oba Enitan Ogunwusi called for practical steps to address
the issue of Nigeria’s population growth. He said the nation might
experience worse situation if youths are continuously used to perpetrate
violent activities.
“The active population of this country is about 150 million people with a
bleak future. The young men that were apprehended and paraded for
kidnapping the Chibok girls are below the age of 30. They thought they
were doing business because they were very ignorant of what they were
doing,” he said.
The traditional leader also urged those in the leadership position to
engage youths in productive activities.