Foreign Herdsmen Are Terrorists – Sultan Declares

SAN FRANCISCO, September 12, (THEWILL) – The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III, has declared that the herdsmen causing violence in the country are foreigners insisting that Nigerian herdsmen are peace-loving.

Abubakar, who is the spiritual head of Muslims in Nigeria, spoke in Sokoto on Monday , in his Eid el-Kabir message, emphasized the need for all Nigerians to live peacefully with one another irrespective of any religious or ethnic differences if the country is to fully develop.

He acknowledged that there were problems between the Fulani herdsmen and farmers, but recommended that the disagreements should be resolved through dialogue.

“The Nigerian herdsmen are very peace-loving and law-abiding,” he said.

“The so-called Fulani herdsmen moving with guns, causing violence, fighting with farmers are not Nigerians.

“Foreigners are the ones coming into Nigeria to cause a breach of the peace. They are therefore terrorists and should be treated as such by the Nigerian security agencies.

“Nigeria will continue to lag behind if there is no peace and unity.

“Our diversity should be our strength and God has not made a mistake by creating us with diverse differences.”

The Sultan also commended President Muhammadu Buhari, for introducing the Change Begins With Me campaign in Nigeria.

“The president deserves commendation for making this bold move christened, Change begins With me,” he said when, Aminu Tambuwal, Governor of Sokoto State, paid him the traditional Sallah homage.

“The campaign cannot come at a better time than now when Nigeria is in dire need of change.

“Change is, however, very unpalatable and pretty difficult as such Nigerians should be cooperative and patient.

“Destruction is always very easy, while reconstruction takes more time and patience is required.

“We should look inwards, reappraise our behaviours and our attitudes from our various and workplaces.

“We should start and contribute to the campaign by re-orientating ourselves and this should be done by Nigerians at all levels.”

Story by David Oputah