By Nura Salami
President Muhammadu Buhari has on Thursday declared open the International Islamic Conference on Peace and Security at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja.
In an address at the conference, the President said government would commission a study to determine origin, causes and sponsors of the dreaded Boko Haram group.
“I assured Nigerians that at the end of the hostilities when the group is subdued the government would commission a sociological study to determine the origin, the remote and immediate causes of the movement, its sponsors, its international connections if any, to ensure that measures are taken to prevent a recurrence of this evil. The outcome of the proceedings of this conference will be useful in that regard,” he said.
He said government in collaboration with neighbouring countries have succeeded in degrading the attacking capability of the Boko Haram insurgents.
He said the insurgents have now been compelled to retreat, adding that government “will pursue them relentlessly until they become an item of history.”
The President said the “tragic paradox of the global insurgency situation is that most of the atrocities committed by various insurgents all over the world today are being carried out mainly by people who pretend to be Muslims, yet, most of the victims and casualties are equally Muslims.”
“To underscore their cruelty and godlessness, they particularly target the most vulnerable members of the society: children, women and the elderly. No religion approves of such heinous crimes against humanity; definitely not Islam nor Christianity, to which two most Nigerians belong.
“This is a tragedy which all normal people must rise up against. Islam does not permit lawlessness. It frowns at extremism even in normal acts of worship. The emergence of any group advocating the contrary is therefore irreligious and unacceptable,” he said.
The President stressed the need for religious leaders to intensify their efforts in sending out the real teachings of their religion in order to counter the diabolical ideology that motivates the insurgent elements.
He also called on religious, community and political leaders to mobilise their followers against corruption and crimes of any kind.
