A former military governor of Rivers State, Major General Zamani Lekwot (retd), on Sunday told the Shariah Council of Nigeria to stop preaching hate and division and concentrate on tolerance. Lekwot was reacting to the call for his execution by the Supreme Council of Shariah in Nigeria.
The Shariah council had on Thursday called for the execution of Lekwot and other Southern Kaduna leaders sentenced to death over the Zango-Kataf riot of 1992.
But the retired major general, in an interview with journalists in Kaduna after an interdenominational service and indoor protest organised by the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, said his life was in the hands of God and not detractors. He said he was not afraid of the Shariah council.
Answering questions from journalists, he said, “I have nothing to say. My life, like everybody’s, is in the hands of God, not the detractors. The detractors and evil forces that are preaching hate, trying to throw a spanner in the works, will fail. May God expose them in all ramifications.”
When asked if he was afraid of the threat to his life, the former Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy asked, “Afraid”? I am a trained professional soldier and a trained commander.”
“Those that are reverting to hate are clever by half. What we need in our country is genuine tolerance and live and let live. We have lived together for a very long time