Tackling insecurity including the incessant attacks by Boko Haram has been difficult due to ethnic and religious sentiments attached to most of the crisis, the Director General of the State Security Services (SSS), Mr. Ita Ekpeyong, has said.
He spoke at the weekend in Abuja on “The role of Imams in the current security challenges in Nigeria,’ at the sixth seminar organized by the Committee of FCT Imams (CFI).
Ekpeyong said “Although many violent conflicts have erupted ostensibly in the name of religion, what has largely been ignored is the fact that religious approaches to peace-making which include the expanded role of religious leaders and religious institutions in peace-making and peace building have been particularly effective in complementing secular peace diplomacy.
“It should be noted also that crisis situations where religion is invoked, either in its own right or as a proxy for political battles, arise not simply between adherents of different religious practices and beliefs, but also between different sects of a particular religion. It is therefore essential to include religious actors in effort to bring about mutual understanding towards the mitigation or reconciliation of conflict.”
He wondered how the Boko Haram leaders were able to recruit and indoctrinate their members within a short time that some members are willing to embark on suicide bomb attacks, adding that between the 1980s Maitatsine riots and the latest Boko Haram attacks there have been over 20 religious crises in the country.
He therefore urged the Imams to inculcate genuine Islamic knowledge and values especially among young Muslims to enable them differentiate between the right and wrong ideologies.
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