Ololade Adeyanju/
Special courts were recommended on Sunday to handle banditry, kidnapping and unlawful carrying of weapons in the country, as former President Olusegun Obasanjo met with some leaders from northern Nigeria to discuss solutions to the nation’s security challenges.
Among the northern leaders at the close-door meeting was the Islamic scholar, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi.
The meeting was held at Obasanjo’s residence in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Suggesting ways to address the issues of insecurity, Obasanjo and Gumi 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.
According to the Obasanjo 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 sitting agreed that banditry, kidnapping, and other crimes that have led to general insecurity were a nationwide phenomenon.
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.
They 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.
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