Sultan of Sokoto Sa’ad Abubakar ll says it will take Nigeria many decades to overcome banditry and its devastating consequences.

“It is important for us to tell ourselves the home truth. What we must do is to challenge these bandits because we all know the consequences of banditry and insurgency on our lives,” Mr Abubakar said. “But it will take decades to get out of it if all we get out of it. We all know the consequences and the problems.”

Mr Abubakar, the president general of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), on Monday at the two-day North-West Peace and Security Summit in Katsina, said criminal activities in the region will only be curtailed with cooperation from northern stakeholders.

“I’ll like to say no matter how much support you give us, if we are not ready and willing to end this criminal activities, we can not succeed. We are the ones to work and solve this problem if we so desire. Nobody will come from the moon to solve our problems,” Mr Abubakar said.

The cleric lamented incessant insecurity in North-East Nigeria despite several peace summits by stakeholders and huge resources by the federal government to combat insecurity.

“Most people here gathered are familiar with the causes and as well as the consequences of insecurity in this part of the country for the last one decade,” Mr Abubakar said.

“Reports after reports, conferences after conferences, consultations after consultations, and of course, recommendations after recommendations, still the problem persists. Why?”

He added, “It is time to ask the question of why things are still the way they are today despite tons of money spent to procure equipment for the services and for the well-being of the personnel. We need to ask this question to know how to move forward. Because without giving an answer to this question, we cannot go anywhere. We will only come back to another conference talking about the same issue, the same problem.”

The two-day North-West Peace and Security Summit comes amid banditry ravaging the region and neighbouring states outside the region.

From Katsina to Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara and Niger states, bandits in different coordinated attacks have continued killings and kidnapping for ransom without restraint.

In attendance at the summit were Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu, former President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina, Minister of Defence Muhammad Badaru, and National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, among others.