Former Military Governor of Rivers State, Major General Zamani Lekwot (retd) has berated the Supreme Council of Shariah in Nigeria for demanding his execution.
However, he said he was not afraid of death, adding that his life was in God’s hands.
Lekwot spoke Sunday while reacting to the council’s recommendation that the execution of himself and others found complicit in the Zangon-Kataf riot of 1992 would help bring lasting peace to Southern Kaduna.
In an interaction with journalists, the retired general 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.”
Asked if he was not afraid of being killed, Lekwot said, “Afraid”? I am a trained professional soldier and a trained commander.”
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“The Zango-Kataf they are talking about. Yes. The killings were unfortunate but the dispute was over the relocation of the market. Some people didn’t want it. At the end of the day, a commission of inquiry was set up; recommendations were made and the Mua’azu committee’s recommendations had been implemented.
“Those that are reverting to it 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,” he explained.
Lekwot stated that by demanding a revisit of the case nearly three decades later, the council was “now telling the reason some armed foreign bandits are imported to destroy the country”.
“How does that (revisiting his case) address the issue? (of killings in Southern Kaduna). So, what is happening in Kaduna and by extension in other parts of the country is a bad omen for our unity and stability,” he stated.