The Benin Monarch, His Royal Majesty, Oba Ewuare II has tasked Muslims on religious tolerance towards achieving stability and peaceful coexistence in Nigeria.

He urged Muslim leaders to consciously lead adherents of the religion to follow the teachings of Prophet Muhammed, not only in principle, but in practice that guide against distortion of facts in the Qur’an.

The traditional ruler gave the advice when he received members of Benin Muslim Congress during the Eid-El-Kabir festival at his palace in Benin City, Edo State where they offered prayers for Benin Kingdom and Nigeria.

Oba Ewuare who expressed concern over the security situation in Nigeria, said, “That is what the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, usually tell us when we are together in a gathering. I hope you are following that?”.

Leader of the group and Chief Imam of Benin Central Mosque, Sheikh Adulfatai Enabulele, eulogized the Benin monarch for his traditional and spiritual role in Edo State and Nigeria at large.

According to him, “We Muslims in this Kingdom, by the grace of God will continue to work assiduously to make sure that nobody comes here (Edo) and misbehaves.

“And anybody that comes here to misbehave will be handed over to security agencies. We pray that the security agencies have the will power to deal with them (criminals),” he said.

Speaking further, the Chief Imam who was accompanied by the leaders of Hausa, Yoruba, Afemai and Esan Communities in Edo State said that, “There is no society where you do not have outlaws …What stops us from getting CCTV cameras around that we can use to monitor the activities of these criminal elements?”

In a brief remark, Alhaji Bademasi Saleh, Chairman of Hausa community in Edo State, lamented over the influx of what he called miscreants from neighboring States into Edo State.

He said that, “some people who come from neighbouring states to Edo try to undermine our traditional institution; we will not support it,” he added

Saleh however assured that steps are being taken to nip the menace in the bud.

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