Special courts should be created to deal promptly with banditry, kidnapping and unlawful carrying of weapons in the country.
This formed part of the solutions to the nation’s security challenges recommended by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and famous Islamic scholar, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi.
Both men met on Sunday at the residence of the former President in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, to discuss and propose possible solutions to the country’s security challenges.
Suggesting ways to address the issues of insecurity, Obasanjo and Gumi, in a report by ChannelsTV, stressed the need for the people, irrespective of their affiliation, to desist from the blame game, as well as attributing ethnicity, religion, and region to crimes committed by criminals.
They asked the people to respect one another, show tolerance and accommodation where necessary, and condemn criminal acts no matter where it was committed and by whom it was committed.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Sheikh Abubakar Gumi met at the elder statesman’s residence in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on April 4, 2021.
According to the elder statesman and the Islamic scholar, encouraging more of carrot solution as may be found necessary, sharing information at all levels, and not accepting criminality as a way of life for any individual or group in the country, are part of the solutions to insecurity in the land.
They agreed that banditry, kidnapping, and other crimes that have led to general insecurity were a nationwide phenomenon at the meeting.
Obasanjo and Gumi also acknowledged that people from various parts of the country and outside Nigeria were involved, although some were more predominantly involved than others.
They appealed to authorities and the people not to encourage or support criminality, saying the country’s security situation has gone beyond tolerance.
The elder statesman and the Islamic scholar also identified the crisis as a micro-ethnic conflict between the Fulani and many host communities, mainly in the North West.
They attributed the remote causes of the crisis to educational and economic disparities and the harmful use of religion and ethnicity by deceitful politicians.
