The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has said Boko Haram insurgents have eventually transmuted themselves into armed bandits and kidnappers, with the aim of overrunning the country under their unholy agenda.
He, however, charged the federal government to live to its responsibility of securing the lives of all Nigerians from the new wave of attacks.
A statement by the JNI Secretary General, Dr Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, yesterday, said: “The Sultan of Sokoto is in utter disbelief and astonishment that students could be abducted from school, despite the not too long ago Kankara episode, just a few days after the kidnap of passengers on board the Niger State Transport Authority (NSTA) bus in the same Niger State.
“This is absolutely incredible, despicable and condemnable. Ordinarily, the school abduction should have been averted if there were adequate security surveillance and alertness around our boarding schools. These unfortunate trends are becoming the new normal.
“Worst still, Kagara town and by extension Niger State, has become infamous, given the serial attacks by bandits and other criminals in recent past.”
The Sultan queried: “Isn’t intelligence part of security networking? Why is it that these repeated actions have continued clandestinely without trace? As a country, do we really understand the magnitude of these repeated orgies of events? Are we really conscious of the repercussions of these bloodletting and other criminalities? This Kagara abduction is one tragedy too many to bear.”He said the government must realise that decisiveness and boldness should be brought to bear in tackling this menace, urging the newly appointed service chiefs to see the kidnap and abduction in Niger State as a wakeup call and a litmus test. (Guardian)