Disobedience to court order, recipe for lawlessness, chaos –- Sultan

The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian
Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar has
warned that disobedience to any court order is a recipe for
lawlessness and chaos.

In a veiled reference to the arrest of the #RevolutionNow
convener, Omoyele Sowore by the Department of State Services in
violation of a court order, Abubakar stated that “everyone must be
law-abiding in the interest of national development.”

He gave the warning on Thursday in Abuja at the 2019 fourth
quarter meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council with the
theme: ‘Religion and Civil Authorities in Dialogue for
Nation-Building.’

The monarch said, “We must regularly obey and respect the laws
of our land. We should never disregard the laws to avoid the
consequences. If a court makes a judicial pronouncement on a
particular matter, it should be obeyed to the letter.

“If you have any problem or disagree with the pronouncement, the
next step is to appeal the pronouncement instead of disregarding or
violating court judgments.”

Speaking further, the Muslim leader noted, “If you are served a
court order and you deliberately refused to obey it because you are
a governor, president or any influential person, then you are
setting a dangerous precedent.”

“There’s no society that will prosper through lawlessness;
Citizens must be law-abiding so that we can achieve the desired
development,” Abubakar said.

The NSCIA President-General also stressed the need for
inter-religious dialogue in the country, noting that it would
foster a better understanding among the people.

He admonished the citizens to be wary of extremism and prevent
extremists from causing trouble in the polity.

Abubakar further emphasised the importance of education and
particularly stressed the need to enrol street children in school
and to combat the rising menace of drug abuse in the country.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha
commended the Co-Chairmen and members of the NIREC for being
steadfast in maintaining the peace and harmony in the country.

He said the Federal Government recognised the efforts of NIREC
in bringing the two major religions together and providing
religious leaders and traditional rulers a veritable forum to
promote greater interaction and understanding among the leaders and
their followers as well as lay foundations for sustainable peace
and religious harmony in the country.

The SGF stated, “The time has now come for governments at all
levels to sit down and discuss the issue of religious tolerance and
peaceful coexistence with our religious and traditional rulers
because the success or failure of security administration in the
country depends largely on both institutions.

“You, therefore, remain in the frontline of stakeholders in the
business of peacebuilding in every community.”