From Noah Ebije and Sola Ojo, Kaduna

Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III has urged the Federal Government to start prosecution of any arrested killer herdsman.

He said that will show that government is  serious in its fight against insecurity.

The Sultan, who is also the president general of Jaama’tu Nasril Islam (JNI) further said that Nigerians should “stop mistaking the devilish act of the killers herdsmen as acting the script of the Fulani community or Muslim community in Nigeria” and added that there are few bad eggs in the Fulani clan.

The traditional and Islamic leader said this, yesterday, in Kaduna, at the opening ceremony of the 2-Day Annual Pan-Northern Groups Summit on Security, Socio-economic and political development.

He also said clashes between farmers and herdsmen are purely economic clashes and not ethno-religious as speculated in some quarters.

“There are very terrible herdsmen who kill.

“But, they are acting on their own; they are criminals and they must be treated as criminals.

“Therefore, the Federal Government should prosecute them. “It is disheartening to hear when people say Fulani herdsmen want to Islamize Nigeria and that is why they are killing.

“Any Fulani herdsman who kills is not acting the script of the Fulani community in Nigeria, neither is he working for the Muslim community,” he said.

Speaking on the state of Northern Nigeria, the Sultan said “unity of the North is non-negotiable if the region must develop and have a common front.”

He added that, the North of today was not the North that Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello left behind. He also acknowleged there is ethnic awareness among northerners now, than ever before.

“There is more ethnic awareness now than ever before. The question is why the sudden consciousness in ethnicity and religion?

“I will not attempt to provide answer to this question, but, we must, therefore, strive to re-unite the North. Only then, we can have a common front and build a united and cohesive North.”

He also decried the poor state of infrastructure in the region and charged Northern governors to pay attention to infrastructure, especially roads.

“Governors should build roads, instead of using N28 billion to build airport. Common people will feel their impact more on roads than building airport.”