Written by Leon Usigbe, Adelowo Oladipo and Shola Adekola, with Agency Report Wednesday, 28 December 2011
THE Sultan of Sokoto and spiritual leader of Nigerian Muslims, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III was at the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday,
to confer with President Goodluck Jonathan, following the latest suspected Boko Haram bomb attack targeted at Christians on Christmas Day in Niger State.
At the end of about two hours-long closed door meeting, he declared that the spate of bomb attacks against Christians was not an indication that Christianity and Islam were at war in the country but the handiwork of evil doers.
St. Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla in Niger State, is the latest to be hit by suspected Boko Haram bombers on Christmas Day, in an incident which led to the death of about 40 worshippers, with many wounded and several properties destroyed.
The sultan spoke to State House correspondents after the meeting, where he disclosed that there would be a larger meeting of religious and traditional rulers to seek a lasting solution to the disturbing activities of the Islamic sect.
While condemning the Christmas Day bombing, the traditional ruler described bombing as evil, which both Christians and Muslims must work together to eradicate.
According to him, “we came in here to felicitate and commiserate with Mr President over the unfortunate incident that happened this period. We’ve had very positive meeting with Mr President on so many things and how to move this country forward, how to make our country stable and to approach those challenges that are facing Nigeria on a common ground.
“I want to assure all Nigerians that there is no conflict between Christians and Muslims, between Islam and Christianity. It is a conflict between evil people and good people and the good people are more than the evil doers. The good people must come together to defeat the evil ones and that is the message.
“We want to assure all our Christian brothers and leaders that we stand on the part of truth, according to our religion that we will continue to work, Insha Allah, for the greatness of this country.
“As I said there is no conflict between Islam and Christianity and I want to assure that we will do all we can in the best of our ability to solve the numerous problems confronting our country,” he said.
When asked to give insight into the outcome of the meeting with the president, the sultan disclosed that the government would look at all the past reports “including the one set up by the president on the North-East crisis, also the Solomon Lar report on the Plateau and other reports, and at the resumption of work, Mr President and his team will look through all those reports and then call for a meeting of a larger body for consultation with all of us, both religious and traditional leaders.
“So, we believe that is a very good way, because we have to close ranks, because nowhere in our two religions, both Christianity and Islam, says we should be violent in dealing with one another.”
On the widespread perception that Northern leaders were not speaking out enough against Boko Haram, he said: “Have we not been speaking out? Did you read the press statement I issued out the day before yesterday? What else do you want us to say?
“We are totally against what has been happening; we totally condemn all these. Nobody can take anybody’s life; it’s un-Islamic; it’s ungodly. Nobody can take anybody’s life. All lives are sacred, they must be respected and protected by all.
“So, we have been speaking out. We all know what the situations are and we can only advise the government and we have been advising the government on several occasions,” he said.
Sultan Abubakar also spoke on the speculation that those who dared to speak out against the Islamic sect have succumbed to their threats, saying “there is no fear. I only speak as a Muslim leader and you know that we don’t say what we don’t mean and what we don’t do. It is against Islam.
“A special verse in the Holy Qur’an said so; don’t speak what you don’t do. It is distasteful in the eyes of Almighty Allah, but we are quite aware of Almighty Allah’s instruction to always speak the truth because we will go back to Him to give account for what we have done on earth.
“So, whatever we say to anybody or any group at any time, we wholly mean so,” the religious leader declared.
Meanwhile National Security Adviser (NSA), General Patrick Azazi has pleaded with Christians in the country not to retaliate the Christmas Day bomb attacks, which killed many faithful, saying that would be playing into the hands of the perpetrators who he said wanted to raise tension elsewhere.
He also assured Nigerians, while fielding questions from State House correspondents in Abuja, on Tuesday, that though it was impossible to man every security point in the country, everything necessary was being done to bring the culprits to book.
According to him, “we can’t have a situation where we think that one bad turn deserves another. We are Nigerians and like we always say, I don’t see any major conflict between the Christian community and the Muslim community.
“You will find a situation where certain individuals, for whatever reasons, are causing these problems. Have we thought of what their ultimate intentions are? Why will somebody go on to bomb Christians on a Christmas day?
“Look at the ultimate intentions. Do they want to really raise temper elsewhere? I think the Christian leaders, CAN, are meeting tomorrow to emphasise to Christians that we must live together as a nation.
“Retaliation is not the answer because if you retaliate, at what point will it end? Nigeria must survive as a nation. That is the key thing,” he asserted.
He, however, called for vigilance on the part of the people to assist the security agencies to checkmate the dastardly acts.
While commenting on the recurring bombing incidents in Suleja, Niger State axis, he said “I can assure you that we are working on it to make sure that we work ahead of the situation,” adding that “it is absolutely difficult to man every point of the country when there are security problems. Like I have said before, there is need for security awareness. There is need for public participation so that there must be cooperation between security and the society for us to make progress.
“On possible overhauling of the country’s security system for more effectiveness, Azazi suggested that there was need to improve security without really saying that there could be changes in the hierarchy.
“What changes are you talking about? Why changes in leadership? Everybody thinks that if you change leaders in security, everything will work fine. If you ask very simple question; what kind of security system have we been managing? Are the structures all been so good that we can overall produce result?
“It is a gradual process, anywhere there has been this level of terrorism, it takes a long time for the security to be overhauled. Even whatever you do, at some points, you expect limited successes but to ensure that over a period of time, you can actually put things in place that will work for the betterment of the society,” he said.
Also speaking on why the government could not hold dialogue with the Boko Haram sect, Azazi maintained that they were faceless and, therefore, urged members of the public to volunteer information on the membership and activities of the sect.
Meanwhle, Alhaji Sa’ad III said that the current insecurity in the country would soon be a thing of the past.
Meanwhile, President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, on Tuesday, lashed at the protagonists of Boko Haram sect and their sponsors, describing them as cowards, just as he urged them to identify themselves before the public.
The CAN leader also expressed support for the call for the Christians in the country to defend themselves against further attacks and decried that Christians were treated like second-class citizens in the country.
Oritsejafor made the declaration at the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, before he was flown in a presidential jet to Abuja.
He said: “If you are the one, won’t you defend yourself? Why should a mad man enter your house and kill you? Why should mad people go to a church and blow it? So, it’s a good advice. Even animals protect themselves. People who say they are Boko Haram and who are sponsoring them, they are worse than animals, but Boko Haram and their sponsors are cowards. If they are not cowards, they should come out to the public, identify themselves.
“You see, Christians are not second-class citizens in Nigeria. We owned this nation together. I have many things to say, but I can’t talk now because I want to be able to meet with other Christian leaders for proper discussion before we know what to do. I think any normal and well-meaning Nigerian will condemn what has happened, because it just doesn’t make sense. Did you see a one-year old child whose head was blown up? So, will you do that and you will say God has helped you to do something?”
On the killing of other Muslims by the dreaded sect, Oritsejafor said those who were killed were the ones who were not in support of the dastardly act being perpetuated by the sect, stressing that those were the experience even in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries.
Meanwhile, THE Niger State governor, Dr Babangida Aliyu, has challenged President Goodluck Jonathan to be decisive and urgently go after the sponsors and masterminds of the Boko Haram sect with a view to ending the mayhem being unleashed on innocent citizens by the sect.
The governor, who said this on Tuesday during a condolence visit to the leaders of Saint Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, on the outskirts of Suleja Local Government Area of the state, emphasised that the Christmas day attack on the church should spur the president to move decisively against those behind the nefarious activities of the Boko Haram.
According to him, “we know the sponsors of the sect and it is time for Mr President, security agents and all of us to go after the sponsors of the Boko Haram now. This is pure terrorism and not a religious war.”
He declared that enough was enough of the activities of the sect that had engaged the country in war with explosives, resulting in the death of innocents and harmless citizens, stressing that the time for presidential action was now.
While commiserating with the families bereaved in the tragedy, Aliyu announced the setting up of a ministerial committee to assess the extent of damage done and the number of those affected with a view to working out compensation package for them.
In an emotion-laden remark, the parish priest of the church, Reverend Father Isaac Achi, disclosed that the leaders of the church had confirmed the death of 22 members of the congregation in the incident and several other still missing.
He bemoaned the case of a nine-year-old child that was thrown three houses away from the scene of the bomb blast, saying that his lifeless body was found several hours after the incident.
Chronicle of Boko Haram attacks
• December 25: Boko Haram claimed responsibility for an attack on a Catholic Church in Madalla near Nigeria’s capital that killed 35 people and wounded 52. The sect shot and killed a police officer after a failed bombing at a church in Jos, as a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a car outside the Yobe State office of the State Security Service (SSS), killing three.
• December 22-24: Sect members fought with police and military forces around the city of Damaturu, leaving at least 61 people dead.
• November 4: Sect members bombed government buildings and shot their way through the city of Damaturu, killing more than 100 people, while bombs and a suicide attack in Maiduguri left four dead.
• August 26: A sect member detonated a car loaded with explosives at the United Nations headquarters in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, killing 24 people and wounding another 116.
• June 16: A car loaded with explosives got detonated at the federal police headquarters in Abuja, killing at least two people. Police first called the attack a suicide bombing, but later denied it.
• April 9: Gunmen from the sect set fire to the Maiduguri International Hotel and killed a politician ahead of local elections.
• April 8: A bomb allegedly planted by the sect exploded at an election office in Suleja in Niger State, killing 16 people.
• January 28: Gunmen with the sect shot and killed the leading candidate for governor in Borno State along with six others in his entourage.
• December 31, 2010: A bomb allegedly planted by the sect exploded at a crowded and popular outdoor beer garden at a military barracks in Abuja, killing at least four people.
• December 24, 2010: A series of bombs allegedly planted by the group exploded in the central Nigerian city of Jos, killing as many as 80 people.
• September 7, 2010: Gunmen with the sect freed about 700 inmates from a Bauchi federal prison.
• July 2009: About 700 people died after sect members rioted and a security crackdown hit Maiduguri, the sect’s spiritual home.
Courtesy: The Associated Press
