Sultan flays UN house blast

Posted by admin Latest Politics, Sultan of Sokoto, United Nations Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

Sokoto: Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III yesterday condemned last Friday’s bomb explosion at the UN Secretariat in Abuja describing it as an abominable act in Islam, especially in the blessed month of Ramadan.

This is just as Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano has ordered the security agencies to release suspected members of the Yusufiyya Movement, popularly known as Boko Haram, and other members of religious groups who are currently in their custody.

The Sultan in his Sallah message to the Muslim Ummah in Nigeria, yesterday said: “We, seriously condemn this act while commiserating with those who lost their property and condoling the families of those who lost their lives.

Eid El Fitri: A Cross section of Muslims pray at the Agege Praying Ground Agege Lagos PPhotot By Diran Oshe.

We hereby call on the Muslims not to allow themselves to be used by our enemies in achieving their desired goals. We should not allow them to cause us to commit acts prohibited by our religion. We, therefore, call upon all those involved in this nefarious act, to fear God and desist from committing this grievous act,’’ he added.

According to the Sultan, the perpetrators should rather seek for avenues of dialogue with the leaders on the problems confronting this country in general.

Sultan Abubakar also stressed the need for all to render assistance in providing solution to such serious problems through peaceful means and dialogue. He also condemned Monday’s violence in Jos which claimed 20 lives saying, “we vehemently condemn yesterday’s (Monday) unfortunate incident of violence in Jos, which caused the loss of lives of many people.

“While we condole the families of those who lost their lives, we would like to reiterate our call on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency, investigate the incident and bring the culprits to book. It is high time for the government to prevent any future recurrence of such acts of violence in this country,” he added.

Ban Ki-Moon to address General Assembly on Abuja bombing

Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will address the General Assembly in New York next Tuesday on the bombing of the UN building in Abuja.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report, Ban is scheduled to begin his address to the 193-member Assembly at 4.30 p.m in New York (9.30 p.m in Nigeria).

The special session of the General Assembly is coming on the heels of Friday’s suicide car bomb attack on the UN building in Abuja, that killed at least 23 people and injured scores of people.

It will be recalled that Ms. Asha-Rose Migiro, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, was in Abuja at the weekend alongside Gregory Starr, the Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security, to see the devastation caused by the bombing.

Migiro described the deadly attack against the UN complex in the Nigerian capital as “morally reprehensible” and also met with survivors of the bombing.

The Deputy Secretary-General, who met with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to discuss the attack, said the perpetrators must be brought to justice.

She pledged that the world body would not be deterred from continuing its work in Nigeria.

The UN says it has begun investigation into the circumstances of the bombing, which has been condemned by both the Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and members of the Security Council.

Kwankwaso orders release of suspected Boko Haram members

In a related development, Kano State governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has ordered security agencies to release suspected members of the Yusufiyya Movement, popularly known as Boko Haram, and other members of religious groups who are currently in their custody.

Rabiu Kwankwaso gave the directives during a session with newsmen in his office shortly after granting unconditional pardon to no fewer than 20 prisoners in the state. He stressed that there was no justification, whatsoever, for the continued detention of the members of the religious sect.

Rabiu Kwankwaso spoke against the backdrop of threat by members of the sect over the continued detention of their members in the state. Kwankwaso declared that at no time did the state government ever authorized any security agency to arrest or detain any member of any religious group. “As a government, we consider all Islamic and Christian religious sects the same. It is the duty of government to embrace all religious groups toward peaceful coexistence among citizens”.

Governor Kwankwaso further said that contrary to the assertion of the sect, the state government was unaware of the alleged arrest of any member of any religious group, nor the detention of members of the Islamist group.

“But if there is any member of the sect in detention, I am hereby calling on the security agencies to either release or charge such person to court within the time stipulated by the Constitution,” he said.

Governor Kwankwaso stressed that his administration has been working assiduously to promote peace and harmony among all the religious groups.

He then assured the people of his administration’s determination to safeguard the lives and property of the people at all times, adding that his administration placed high premium on the security of the citizens.

Earlier at the Kano Central Prison, Governor Kwankwaso said a Committee on Prerogative of Mercy carefully selected those who benefitted from his clemency, which he said was a gesture made in the spirit of the holy month of Ramadan and Eid-el-Fitri.

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