The Sultan of Sokoto in Northwest Nigeria Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar has described the north of the country as the worst place to be.
One of Nigeria’s most highly respected religious and traditional leaders, the Sultan expressed his frustration at the insecurity in the zone on Thursday.
Speaking at the meeting of the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council on Thursday, Abubakar said something must be done urgently to arrest the unpalatable situation.
Sultan Abubakar said the majority of atrocities committed by bandits and kidnappers in the region go largely unreported.
He cited one of the unreported cases as one in which 76 persons were killed in a Sokoto community.
“Unfortunately, you don’t hear these stories in the media because it’s in the north. We have accepted the fact that the North does not have a strong media presence to report the atrocities of these bandits,” he said.
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“People think north is safe but that assumption is not true. In fact, it’s the worst place to be in this country because bandits go around in the villages, households and markets with their AK-47 and nobody is challenging them.
“They stop at the market, buy things, pay and collect change, with their weapons openly displayed. These are facts, I know because I am at the centre of it.
“I am not only a traditional ruler, but I am also a religious leader. So, I am in a better place to tell the story. I can speak for the north in this regard because I am fully aware of the security challenges there.
“We have to sincerely and seriously find solutions to the problem, otherwise, we will find ourselves soon, in a situation where we would lose sleep because of insecurity.”