THE Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, has cautioned against inflammatory remarks, use of ethnicity and religion to undermine the unity of the country, saying God has a purpose for bringing different ethnic nationalities such as Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa/Fulani into a corporate entity called Nigeria.
The Sultan, who said this in Enugu during official reception of Enugu Rangers and Flying Antelope, for their victory at the 2016 Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL), organised by the Enugu State government, said that it is erroneous for some people to attribute the armed herdsmen that have been killing people and destroying farmlands as a form of Islamising Nigeria.
He called on government and political leaders to avoid using religion to destroy the people but to dig deep to fish out those responsible for the killings, instead of tagging them “Fulani herdsmen” because of their religion affiliations or ethnic backgrounds.
“It is not about religion or Islamisation. It is different. It is about extremism and we must put hands together to defeat extremism. Let us not spoil the relationship that already existed between us. The government and the people must join hands to fight extremism”.
He said that people who engage in such acts in whatever guise, should be regarded as criminals and should be treated as such, adding that Islamic religion never supported killing to force people to become Muslims, but by persuasion.
Also speaking, on the occasion, Governor Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, said that the Sultan had been a great supporter of Rangers even when he was in Enugu as a military officer.
On the reason for the visit, Ugwuanyi said, “The essence of this visit is to strengthen the relationship between us as a people. The Sultan is part of us as he started his military career here.”