By BASHIR ADEFAKA
The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Ahaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has expressed his deep concern about the recent murder of two Ekiti traditional rulers, saying the development is one that must be condemned by all.
The Sultan, in a statement by his Media Team on Friday, said the gut by which traditional rulers are ambushed and taken down, like life no longer matters in the land, makes perpetrators of such heinous, wicked and condemnable act unfit to remain amidst human community, if found.
It will be recalled that two traditional rulers, identified as the Onimojo of Imojo-Ekiti, Oba (Professor) and Samuel Olushola, and the Elesun of Esun-Ekiti, Oba David Ogunsakin, were killed by yet to be identified assailants, while returning from a security meeting in Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State, on Monday January 29, 2024.
Sultan Abubakar recalled the late Onimojo as an important monarch on the entourage of Attah of Aiyede, Oba AbdulMumini Adebayo Orishagbemi, when he paid him a visit in Sokoto and who was conspicously on ground to be part of his rousing reception during his return visit to Aiyede Kingdom, Ekiti State in the past.
Describing murder of the two Ekiti Obas as “extremely painful and very unfortunate”, the Sultan, who is also Chairman National Traditional Rulers Council of Nigeria, called on the Inspector General of Police and heads of other relevant security agencies in the country to go after the killers and present them before the law of the land for justice to be done.
He added that, “the police should take its anti-crime battle to these criminals now, wherever they are, whoever they are and ensure that no matter their status and stature in the society, they should not be spared and must be brought to justice, while efforts must be made to henceforth prevent repeat of such dastardly act before it happens in the future,” he said.
In the meantime, Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar has extended his condolences to the government of Ekiti State, the Attah of Aiyede Kingdom, the immediate families of the slain Onimojo, Elesun and the entire people of their reespective towns while praying that Allah would grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable losses.