Buhari asks Plateau governor to bring imam who saved 300 Christians from killer herdsmen to Aso Rock for national honour

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has asked Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State to bring the 83-year-old imam of Nghar village Alhaji Abdullahi Abubakar to Abuja for a national honour to reward him for saving over 300 Christians from Fulani herdsmen.

On June 24, Fulani cattle herdsmen went on the rampage in Plateau State invading about 15 communities in the Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, killing over 200 persons. During the rampage, Imam Abubakar of Nghar in Gashish District hid about 300 Christians in the village mosque, preventing them from becoming victims.

Most of the Christians, were said to be fleeing from a neighbouring village when the Imam hid them in his house and mosque However, the assailants caught up with the imam, forcefully demanding that he release those who were Christians in the mosque but the cleric said deceived the bandits, telling them that all those in the mosque were Muslims and upon hearing this, the attackers left him and continued with their killing elsewhere.

Governor Lalong said President Buhari has asked him to bring the imam to State House, where he will get a presidential handshake in addition to a national honour. He revealed the plans in Jos yesterday during the opening ceremony of a three-day peace and security conference titled The resurgence of violence in Plateau State: Towards a multi-stakeholder partnership for peace and security.

“The president has told me to bring Imam Abdullahi Abubakar for a handshake, which will be followed by a national honour. I was also preparing what to do for this man. Although he is already in his old age, God knows why he did it at that age for us to study and also know how to maintain peace, not only in Plateau State but in Nigeria in general.

“What he did not only saved the people of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area and Plateau State but I think the whole of this country because 300 lives is not a small number. So, Alhaji Abdullahi Abubakar, only God will reward you for what you have done," Governor Lalong added.

Yesterday's event was organised by the Plateau State Peace Building Agency in collaboration with the United States Institute for Peace, Justice and Security and financed by the US Embassy in Nigeria. At the event, the deputy chief of mission and charge de affaires of the US Embassy in Nigeria, David Young, extolled the virtues of the imam, describing his action as heroic.

Mr Young said: “Those who work for peace do not belong to one group or another, they are not just Muslims or Christians, they are individuals who give up their lives for goodness and fight evil. This man is a challenge to all of us, think about what you do every day. Do you take risks for peace?

"Would you put your life on the line to protect people from other communities? Think about what that means to us, to your country and to our world.”

Also speaking, the Gbong Gwom of Jos, His Majesty, Jacob Gyang Buba, called on Plateau stakeholders to be very sincere because of the genuineness of the need for peace. Joshua Izang Madaki, the speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, represented by his deputy, Yitmong Shehu Saleh, regretted that the peace that had been enjoyed in the state had been punctured by the recent crisis.