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.
