Insecurity: Thanks for speaking for us, Northern elders applaud Sultan

Some Northern elders have commended the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, for summoning the courage to speak on the deplorable security situation in the troubled region.

They revealed that the position of the Sultan was a true reflection of the state of insecurity in the North, which, they maintained was largely responsible for the food crisis bedeviling the nation.

Recall that Blueprint reported on Thursday that the revered monarch had, at Thursday’s meeting of the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) decried the precarious security situation in the North, saying the region was now the worst place to live.

While calling for urgent action through actionable engagement, the spiritual leader of Muslims in Nigeria had said that security situation in northern Nigeria has assumed a worrisome situation, regretting that no strong media platform could report the story to the world.

However, reacting to the Sultan’s revelation, in a statement made available to Blueprint Saturday morning, which was signed by their National Coordinator, Engr. Zana Goni and the National Women Leader, Hajia Mario Bichi, the elders operating under the aegis of Coalition of Northern Elders for Peace and Development, said the Sultan vindicated their consistent alarm on the state of insecurity in the region.

The elders, therefore, called on other prominent leaders in the region to join their voices in projecting the true position of things in the region, in order to attract the attention of relevant authorities, even as they called on President Muhammadu Buhari to rejig the security architecture in the country.

The statement reads: “We most respectfully commend the Sultan of Sokoto, our father, for stating the true position of things in the North, as it concerns insecurity. We had said it over and over again that the state of insecurity had reached a point where our farmers can hardly access their farms, even as travellers on busy highways can no longer guarantee their safe arrival without being kidnapped.

“Our mothers, fathers and children are now at the mercy of terrorists and bandits, who kill, harass and destroy property without being confronted, in many instances, by our security operatives. As patriotic elders, we think the position of the Sultan is a Clarion call to our dear President, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari, to restructure the security architecture in the country without further delay.

“We applaud our president for ensuring huge budgetary allocation to the military and security sectors, thereby demonstrating his interest in securing lives and property. We, however, regret that our Security Chiefs have not shown commensurate commitment in tackling these security challenges, owing to what we see as lethargy and spent ideas.”

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