BY ANKELI EMMANUEL, Sokoto –
The Sultan of Sokoto and President General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar 111 has urged Nigerians to call a spade a spade by appropriately calling bandits their right name which is simply terrorists.
The Sultan, who spoke on Tuesday when he received the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt General Faruk Yahaya in his palace, decried that using the term banditry is an indication of been soft on the criminal elements.
“Calling these criminals bandits is being soft on them. They are not bandits rather terrorist. And I believe the more we call them by their right name the better for all of us”.
The respected Islamic cum religious leader while warning that terrorism has take a new turn in Nigeria, added that, “we all generally know how bad things are now”.
Sultan who said though he had retired from the Nigerian Army but not tired of offering meaningful advise, added that, the thrust of their traditional responsibility has placed them in vintage point to offer meaningful advise to all.
“We are retired from the Army but not tired because we are in a very more serious position now to talk to everybody
“We will never get tired of receiving you and other senior officers of the country, because the more we see you, the more people believe and have confidence that something good is happening to the country”.
While noting that they are prayer warriors, Sultan said, “We don’t carry gun, but our Quaran to pray for peace and stability in our country”.
“And we will continue to pray for you and Almighty Allah will hear our cries. We will never allow terrorist to have their ways in Nigeria. The way of the terrorist is to destabilize your normal way of life”.
Giving advise to the Nigerian security to always ensure adequate care and support to families of officers who died in the line of service, Sultan affirmed that doing so will help boost confidence of those in service.
The Sultan who assured that they will continue to give the Nigerian security agencies all the very best advise, affirmed that “The security agencies in Nigeria are doing their best. But they needed to be encouraged.
“For me, if all the soldiers in the Nigerian Army belong to the armoured I would have been happier”.
In his encouragement to the COAS, Sultan said, “We are not tired by the happenings. We pray that your tenure will be turning point in bringing to an end the numerous security challenges across the country”.
Speaking earlier, the COAS said he was in the Palace to pay Sallah homage despite being on operation visit to North West.
To the Sultan, he said, “I can only continue to thank his Eminence for his support and guidance and solicit for the continued support. I want to publicly acknowledge your guidance on how we can always improve on our activities.
“You have always been there for me in all my career. I also want to appreciate your efforts in improving security across Nigeria and the globe”.
Giving reasons for his visit to Sokoto, the COAS said, they are going to the Eastern senatorial axis of the state for the ground breaking ceremony of an operational based barrack of which the land and its documents were given to the Nigerian Army by Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal within one week after they requested for it.
DISCLAIMER
The OPINION / COLUMN is authored by independent contributors to the National Accord Newspaper. While contributors adhere to our editorial guidelines, they are not employed by the National Accord Newspaper. The perspectives and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of the National Accord Newspaper or its staff.
Leave a Reply