Muhammad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, says it will take decades for the north-west to be free from the menacing security challenge.

The Sultan spoke in Katsina on Monday at the ‘Inaugural north west peace and security summit’.

“What we must do is challenge these bandits because we all know the consequences of banditry and insurgency on our lives,” the Sultan said.

“But it will take decades to get out of it if at all we get out of it. We all know the consequences and the problems.

The monarch expressed the readiness of traditional rulers in the region to collaborate with security agencies and northern governors to combat banditry and insurgency.

“I believe that at the end of the summit, proposals to bring insurgency to the barest minimum for people to go about their lives and businesses would be arrived at.”

The event was attended by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu, former President Muhammadu Buhari, governors of the seven states in the north-west geopolitical zone, service chiefs, and Kayode Egbetokun, the inspector general of police (IGP).

On February 14, the Sultan said insecurity and poverty were the major issues causing trouble for the people of the north.

He said traditional rulers owe it a duty to Nigerians, who believe in the traditional institution, to bring solutions to the various problems facing the country.

The Cable