David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka
The Governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has met members of the Muslim community in Anambra State, and restated that he is irrevocably committed to living up to the oath he swore to protect lives and properties in Anambra State.
Soludo spoke in respect to the current trend of insecurity in the state in the state, and the recent killing of a pregnant Muslim woman and her four children.
He said: “My interaction today with the leadership of the Anambra Muslim Community was quite revealing. A people from various parts of the country united in faith and a shared consciousness of the divine, with a rich understanding of our cultural diversity.
“Mr. Ilyasu Yushau, who is the Sarkin Hausawa in Onitsha (this means the leader of the Hausa community in Onitsha, was born 72 years ago in Anambra State; a proud old boy of the famous CKC Onitsha. He confesses to owing all he has become to Onitsha, a place he identifies as home.”
“His story is similar to that of majority Ndi Igbo living in the North, estimated to be about 11 million.
“Our government is committed to protecting the lives, properties and rights of all lawful citizens within the state. I swore to do this, and I will keep to it. I look forward to events and programs that will deepen inter-faith/inter-religious harmony in our great state.”
Soludo, who spent time discussing and interacting with the Muslims, said that he was touched by their concern about the security challenges the state is facing, as most of them knew no other home than Anambra State.
He said: “I am deeply touched by their deep understanding of the challenges we face as a people. They are not ignorant of the ploy by criminal elements to cause disaffection through stoking ethnic and religious tension in order to further their criminal enterprise.”
Soludo said that the world is made up of two groups of people: the good and the bad people, and in every ethnic, religious or tribal group one will always find them, reason no one should brand any religious or ethnic group as being entirely evil.
