BY ABDALLAH El-KUREBE

Sokoto – Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, yesterday, said that sponsors of Islamic sect, Boko Haram, must be exposed if the fight against terrorism must succeed, even as he lamented the pervasive corruption in the country.

Sultan spoke when the Papal Nuncio to Nigeria, Archbishop Augustine Kasojja, accompanied by Anthony Cardinal Okojie, Archbishop of Lagos; Archbishops of Ibadan, Kaduna, Jos and Owerri, as well as 20 other bishops on a courtesy visit to his palace in Sokoto, yesterday.

The bishops are in the state for the installation of Rt. Reverend Monsignor Matthew Hassan Kukah as the new Catholic Bishop of Sokoto today.

His position is coming against the backdrop of the revelations by Wikileaks that he reportedly facilitated the release of some of the Boko Haram members arrested over alleged terrorist activities in the past to enable them escape justice.

The US diplomatic cable with reference 08ABUJA538, released by Wikileaks was reportedly sent by the former American Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Robin Rene Sanders, on March 20, 2008.

Release of Boko Haram members
The cable revealed that the State Security Service, SSS and some Northern traditional leaders, including the Sultan reached an understanding to release some Boko Haram suspects secretly to ensure they were not tried in law courts for their alleged offences of terrorism in the country.

The aim for the  release of the suspects to a carefully selected group of traditional rulers and Imams shortly after their arrest was to ‘’de-radicalise and reform’’ them under the so-called ‘’Perception Management’’ which would have reformed the terrorism suspects and promoted the notion that religious extremists in the North had no foreign affiliations.

However, the Sultan said, “If we talk about Boko Haram, it is a serious problem in this country. Let us try and find out what Boko Haram is and who are its leaders.

‘’No one has told me up till now who the leaders of Boko Haram are. They can not be faceless but someone somewhere is sponsoring these people to do these evil things that are so bad; so we have to find out who are those behind these people.

“We have so much to do because we are the voice of the voiceless. We are the voices of the oppressed.

“If we do not tell the leaders the truth, God will not be happy with us.

‘’If we cannot tell them where and when they go wrong, even where there is so much corruption and inefficiency in the system, God will not be happy with us.

‘’We have to rise up to the occasion; all of these leaders are either Christians or Muslims and since they come to our Churches or Mosques, we must tell them the truth.’’

Sultan on corruption
On corruption, Sultan Abubakar also said, ‘’Why there is so much corruption is because we have kept quiet. Although we have been saying it, there is limit to what we can say.

“What we are doing is to understand one another. The biggest problem in this country today is lack of understanding.

“We have big jobs on our heads as religious leaders in this country. I want to assure you that we shall continue to work together towards that goal.”

“We must continue to promote this understanding between Christians and Muslims wherever we are.

‘’If God wanted, He would have made us all Christians or Muslims, Hindus or Zoroasters; He would have made us all Hausa or Igbo or Indians.

‘’But in His infinite mercies, He created us into tribes and turned us to different directions so that we will understand each other.”

Bishops  hail Sultan

Earlier, the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Augustine Kasojja, had commended the Sultan for the dialogue  he  initiated between Christians and Muslims communities for the good of the country.

He said:“We thank you for hosting the small Catholic community in Sokoto and for assisting towards the success of the ordination of Monsignor Kukah as new Bishop of Sokoto.

The  President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, CBCN and Archbishop of Ibadan,  Rev. Alaba Job, commended the Sultan for sacrificing his time to receive the Bishops.

He said:“We thank you for the rapport you have brought to bear in this Sultanate. I am quite aware of your personal disposition as Co-Chair of NIREC and I know that you will continue to give that support for this freedom of worship, for this magnanimity that you inherited.”

Other members of the delegation included  Anthony Carninal Okogie of Lagos Diocese, the Archbishop of Kaduna Catholic Diocese, Matthew Ndangoso , Archbishop of Jos Diocese, Ignatius Kaigama, Archbishop of Owerri Diocese, Obinna Anthony, out-going Bishop Kevin J. Aje of Sokoto Diocese and about 20 other bishops.