Sultan of Sokoto demands probe into killing of ‘Igbo Muslim’ military officer
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has urged the Federal Government and the Nigerian Armed Forces to investigate the killing of an Army officer, Col. Abdussalam Ude.
The President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs also denounced what he described as continued discrimination and hostility against minority Igbo Muslims in the South-East, calling for greater protection of religious minorities across the country.
His position was made known in a statement issued on Wednesday by Prince Bashir Adefaka on behalf of the Sultan’s Media Team.
The Sultan said the alleged persecution of minority Igbo Muslims in the South-East poses a threat to national unity and called on the authorities to determine the circumstances surrounding the officer’s death.
According to the statement titled “Sultan of Sokoto calls for immediate launch of investigation on alleged assassination of Igbo Muslim Army officer,” Alhaji Abubakar made the appeal “while reacting to the recent assassination, allegedly, of Nigeria’s most senior Igbo Muslim Army officer, which occurred at his residence in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, recently.”
The Sultan said, “The Federal Government and the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have gotten to put heads together and get to the roots of circumstances that led to the shooting at alleged close range of Army Colonel Abdur-Razaq AbdlKarim Ode, a fine military intelligence officer that both Muslim Ummah and traditional communities in the country, especially the region he hailed from, were proud of.”
He added that failure to investigate the killing of any Nigerian, particularly a serving military officer, would undermine efforts at nation-building.
“To allow the killing of any single Nigerian soul taken out without getting to the root of the cause and bringing the culprits to justice with a view to disallowing a repeat of the same is not a good way to talk about a serious country, much more when the life extrajudicially taken is that of a soldier of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The cause of this killing and attempt on the life of his family must be found out and the government and other appropriate quarters do the needful,” he said.
The Sultan further appealed for an end to hate speech and attacks targeting minority religious groups nationwide.
“As Muslims, we continue to act by showing love and encouraging peaceful coexistence, tolerance, unity and restraint as enjoined upon us by Islamic rules, regulations and guidance laid down for us in the Glorious Qur’an,” he said.
He also prayed for the repose of the deceased officer’s soul and asked Allah to grant him Al-Jannah Firdaus.
