Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Jamaatu Nasril Islam, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar lll, said on Wednesday that the worsening insecurity in the country, particularly in the North, should give the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government sleepless nights.
In a statement, JNI Secretary General, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, urged the military to go the extra mile to end insecurity in the country.
Aliyu described the insecurity bedevilling some parts of the country, especially the Northwestern states, as an extension of Boko Haram insurgency.
The JNI statement read, “The repeated massacre of people, as well as the senseless burning of houses and livestock in Borno, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Niger States and indeed other states such as Adamawa, Kaduna and Taraba, should give governments and its functionaries at both federal and state levels sleepless nights.
“By now, an instantaneous pronouncement followed by robust actions should have been made by the government of the day, not verbal warnings and condemnations dished out to the perpetrators of the murderous acts.”
“As stakeholders, we strongly believe that the repeated killings are blame worthy, and no one found culpable in this gross act of negligence should be spared.
“In all honesty, all erring personnel would have been dealt with decisively by now or they themselves should have honourably resigned, as oftentimes seen in other climes.
“The most pathetic of all these incidences were that even the normal administrative panels of inquiries are not considered, not to talk of a thorough investigative panel, where at least citizens would appear and ventilate their feelings.
“Isn’t the government of the day a popular government? Is it not a participatory government? “Why doesn’t public opinion(s) matter to it? Or isn’t public opinion(s) considered an ingredient to the government of the day?”
The Islamic body also questioned the sincerity of the armed forces in their fight against insecurity, alluding to the rumours circulating that security operatives do not want the war on Boko Haram to end, ‘because of the lucrative benefits they allegedly derive therefrom.’
“Make no mistake, the insecurity bedevilling North Western states and some of the North Central states are more or less an extension of Boko Haram.
“Take, for instance, the person (one of the gang leaders) responsible for terrorizing neighbouring communities in the forests of Katsina and Zamfara axis is called Kachalla (a Kanuri usual name), which is, of course, one tragedy too many for Nigeria!
“We will, therefore, continue to ask questions: how have the perpetrators been able to gain access to such communities to successfully perpetrate such heinous crimes unabated?
“How comes they were not prevented or intercepted? Does it mean that when they were en-route no security or informants provided any hint?
“How have the perpetrators been able to have access to weapons, despite the Nigerian borders’ closure? “Some will argue that it isn’t lethal, such as bombings!
“Then if so, where is the humanity in us? “As you cannot claim to be a man of faith, without having the feeling of humanity in you!
“We ask again, aren’t the security operatives conversant with Sun Tzu’s Five Types of Spies in his The Art of War: local, inside, double, doomed and surviving?
“And that no one must discover your methods. Moreover, what stops the use of other manoeuvres if what is in place isn’t yielding the desired results? “Indeed, there is much more than meets the eye in the way the insecurity incidences were being handled by security agencies.”