The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, has condemned the Christmas eve killings in 20 communities in Mangu, Bokkos, Mangu and Barkin Ladi Local Government Areas of Plateau State.

He faulted security agencies for their failure in intelligence gathering, saying there was no excuse for such high number of deaths without corresponding response by the security agencies.

Abubakar called on the government and security agencies to be more proactive and scale up intelligence gathering.

He said it is now obvious that “the bandits and terrorists are always a step ahead.”

The Sultan, who is also the President, Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, stated this in a goodwill message to the closing of the 80th National Islamic Vacation Course, on Wednesday in Bauchi.

He said: “We have problems of insecurity. Just a couple of days back, there was this clash in Plateau where over 100 plus lives were lost.

“Why do we keep on having these clashes, why do we keep on having these deaths caused by ourselves? A couple of weeks back, the Tudun Biri issue is still fresh in our minds, and now the one in Plateau.

“We always condemn such things but after condemning such activities by these bandits and criminals, what are the roles of the governments who are supposed to protect our lives and property?

“Why can’t we be proactive and stop such attacks before they happen? What happened to our intelligence gathering mechanisms? Can anybody tell me that nobody knew that such attacks were coming up?”

He said Nigerians should begin to query the government to ensure that such killings never occur again.

“Have we lost our sense of gathering information to avert any of such heinous crimes? We must ask our governments to up the game because these bandits are always a step ahead.”

Abubakar also warned against politicising insecurity in the country saying this would only embolden the criminals and make the situation worse.

“For some of us who were opportune to serve in the military, we know the activities of the security agencies, so we keep on asking, what really is happening?

“Things are politicised and that’s the worst way to go when you politicise insecurity.

“We’re all in one big country where we have poverty, yes. But Muslims, Christians and even people who don’t have religion, go to the same market, buy the same foodstuffs, enter the same vehicles, pay the same fares.

“So it is not the issue of religion, let’s not say that anybody is planning this against Christians or against Muslims. No, it is the issue of leadership.

“Let’s have confidence in the leadership that within the next few weeks, months and year, something will change.

“Let’s keep on having hope; we should not lose hope, but we must keep calling on our leaders to rise up to the occasion.

“Things are not right and when things are not right, anything can happen,” the Sultan added.

He also urged Nigerians not to get tired of praying for peace and stability in the country and putting more pressure on the leadership to do the right thing.

“As Muslims, we believe in the Almighty Allah who does what He wants to do and when He wants to do it. So let’s continue with our prayers.

“But as we pray, let’s put pressure on our leaders to do the right thing, let’s not leave our leaders with their own problems and faults.

“We must all take this leadership as one opportunity for all of us to be good to one another and let our country be a much better country.

“The challenges are there and there are so many problems,  but we have to face these challenges.”