TheCable

Saad Abubakar, sultan of Sokoto, says the widespread insecurity in the country is part of the punishment Nigerians are getting for their sins.

The monarch said this at the 5th international conference on “Love and Tolerance: Countering Violent Extremism for Peaceful Coexistence” in Abuja.

Represented by Idris Musa, the emir of Jiwa, Abubakar said the insecurity challenge will be solved if Nigerians put an end to sinful lives.

He urged Nigerians to abide by God’s words and live harmoniously with other members of society.

“The security challenge is our problem. The Holy Quran is a message to mankind. The Holy Bible is a message to mankind,” he said.

“If we cannot listen to what the Bible and Quran have taught us and we continue in our bad ways, what do we expect? It is part of the punishment we are receiving based on our sins. If we can stop committing sin and abide by God’s words, things will change.

“I thank the UFUK Foundation for trying to unite the world to become one and love each other. Today, we are in a situation that most of us do not love each other. This is wrong, we are created in the same way and we are brothers, no matter the situation and religion.

“We are appealing to everyone to live together and be our brother’s keeper and live in harmony. We should not create problems for each other.

“We can win the fight against insurgency. Everyone is afraid of each other, but I am sure that we are going to win the war.”

The sultan had earlier expressed concern over the growing number of orphans in the northern region as a result of insurgency.

He said the orphans “would turn out to be worse than the Boko Haram” if nothing was done about their situation.