The Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar yesterday raised the alarm over the blood letting in the country.

He decried “too much bloodshed” and the rising cases of thuggery, terrorism and armed banditry.

The Sultan said Nigerians cannot continue to go about killing and spilling blood in the name of religion when both Islam and Christianity preach the sacredness of life which should be respected by all.

The Sultan said: “As Christians and Muslims, we know the sacredness of life. We cannot go about killing innocent people and claiming to be doing so in the name of religion. This is not right and must be condemned and must be removed from our communities. All of us must rise up against those people.

In the Sultan’s view, the country has a leadership problem that should be addressed. He said: “If you hear so much cry, then something is wrong with the leadership and that leadership must take correction so that we see how to get things right. As religious leaders, we must come together and realise that there are so many things we have in common than the few things that will lead us astray and those few things can lead you to hell fire as religious leaders.

•Excerpted from The Nation

•Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar