Sultan of Sokoto demands probe into killing of Igbo Muslim colonel in Abuja
Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, says the “incessant hate and bad mouthing” against the minority Igbo Muslims cannot stand alongside efforts on nation-building.
The traditional ruler was reacting to the recent killing of Abdulsalam Ude, a colonel and an Igbo muslim army officer.
In a statement signed by Bashir Adefaka, a member of the sultan’s media team, the traditional ruler said muslims would continue to promote love, peaceful coexistence, tolerance, unity and restraint in line with the teachings of Islam.
The sultan, who is also the president-general of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), urged the federal government and the armed forces to investigate the circumstances surrounding the killing of the army officer.
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 AA Ude, a fine military intelligence officer that both Muslim Ummah and traditional communities in the country especially region he hailed from were proud of,” the statement reads.
The sultan condemned the killing of any Nigerian without uncovering the cause and bringing those responsible to justice.
“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 disallowing repeat of 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,” Abubakar said.
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.
Last week Monday, Abdulsalam Ude, a colonel with the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), was killed after resisting an attack by gunmen at his residence in Abuja.
J.E. Oti, acting assistant director of protocol at the DIA, in a statement, said the assailants attempted to abduct Ude shortly after he arrived at his residence in Phase 5, Army Housing Estate, Kurudu, on the outskirts of Abuja at about 10:45 pm.