Leadership Nigerians Should See Boko Haram As Common Enemy - Shehu Of Borno By: NAN on July 19, 2013 - 2:52am Nigerians should see Boko Haram as a common enemy and not an attempt by Muslims to Islamise or divide the country, His Royal Highness Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Garbai, the Shehu of Borno, said yesterday. Garbai, who is a member of the Inter-Religous Council of Nigeria, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri. “Boko Haram is not a deliberate attempt by Muslims to attack Christians; if it was, they would not have attacked me. “If it is a question of targeting only Christians, 13 of my district heads, two council members and many other Muslims would not have been killed. The emirs of Fika and Kano are Muslims, yet they were attacked by the sect members, who also killed many other Muslim leaders.’’ He said that some Christians worked in his office and some were traditional title holders in his palace, adding that he held regular meetings with the Christian community in the state. “It is, therefore, clear that from top to bottom, there is nobody who is not affected. Churches, mosques, parents and children were affected, so it is not a question of the group targeting only a particular group of Nigerians.” Garbai said that Nigerians had fought in the past to keep the country united and that they should do everything possible to ensure that anything that could violate the country’s constitution was not allowed. He also said Nigerians should try and settle their differences through dialogue and not emphasise those things that would divide them. Garbai said that the Inter-Religious Council of Nigeria, which is made up of equal number of Muslims and Christians, was set up by the government to advise it on how to move the country forward. “We discuss issues that will promote peace, including the Boko Haram crisis, and advise the government to take necessary action to prevent the crisis from spreading to other parts of the country.’’ He said that the federal government had taken a decisive step with the declaration of a state of emergency in Borno. “Things are now going on smoothly. Nobody is complaining of harassment by soldiers, police or JTF.’’
Posted on: Fri, 19 Jul 2013 08:48:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015