Ahamefula Ogbu
20 May 2011
Traditional rulers across the country Thursday strongly condemned the spate of violence that greeted the Presidential election in some states of the country and backed President Goodluck Jonathan for setting up a panel to probe the violence and pressed that anyone found culpable for it should be made to face the law.
The royal fathers represented by their Chairman and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Sa’ad III condemned the killings, especially of corps members as unfortunate and condemnable by every right thinking man on earth.
The Sultan said the monarchs were saddened by the resort to violence at the least incitement which must be put in check so there would be no repeat.
They charged all traditional institutions to ensure the protection of corps members posted to their domains as a matter of priority as well as do all within their powers to preserve the unity of the country.
“We felt bad that somebody will leave his state to another state only to have his corpse taken back . We were indeed saddened by the unfortunate trend,” he lamented.
The royal fathers congratulated him for history at the polls and pledges their unwavering support of the programmes of his administration.
Jonathan thanked them for their support and for Nigerians granting him a fresh mandate and assured them that he will ensure that they have a constitutional role as their function was germane in achieving peace and development.
He explained that the body he empanelled was a fact finding and not punitive though his government would not hesitate to tracking perpetrators of violence and punishing those indicted by the panel who security agencies feel should be prosecuted.
AllAfrica – All the Time
Link:
Post-Election Violence – Monarchs Back Jonathan’s Action