Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has urged Muslims not to conceal criminals but to fearlessly hand them over to security bodies.
According to Mohammed, most acts of criminality, such as banditry and kidnapping were being perpetrated by those of the Islamic faith.
The governor said this yesterday after performing the EidAlFitrl prayers to mark the success of the just completed Ramadan fasting.
He said, “We know these bandits. We know where they stay and what they do. Sometimes we aid and abt them.
“We should fish them out because the police in their limited numbers are already overwhelmed due to insufficient human capital.
”Apparently, the Federal security architecture has failed not because of any compromise but because the situation is overwhelming.”
Noting that crime is against Islamic tenets, he said: “We are grateful to Allah that Ramadan has been a period of prayers and devotion.
“As a nation, we need to reflect deeply on our common existence because we are challenged by so many aspects of our misdemeanours.
”Most of the criminality is coming from us as members of the Islamic faith, such as banditry, kidnapping and the rest.
”We must be very courageous to say it. It’s not something acceptable in the tenets of Islam.
“We should fear God to make sure we don’t give ourselves, our community and even our religion a bad name.”