An Islamic human rights group has given Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, retired General Christopher Gwabin Musa, a fortnight to demonstrate a clear improvement in security across Sokoto state or step down from office.
As reported by Leadership, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) issued the ultimatum in a press statement on Saturday, August 22, 2026, signed by its executive director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola.
The group said the minister had failed to honour a pledge he made when he assumed office to end killings across the country. PM News also noted MURIC’s calls.
MURIC said at least 43 people and an Imam were killed in Sokoto state within the past three weeks, while 19 others were kidnapped in the same period.
The group described the victims as all being Muslims and framed the attacks as an assault on the symbolic heart of Islam in Nigeria.
“If Abuja is Nigeria’s political capital, if Lagos is the country’s economic hub, then Sokoto is the heart of Islamdom in Nigeria,” Akintola wrote in the statement.
“Any attack on Sokoto is deemed by Nigerian Muslims as an attack on Muslims in general.”
The group held the Nigerian Army directly responsible for the security failures in and around the state, and demanded what it called an “iron-clad defence mechanism” in the area.
MURIC also pointed to a recent warning from the Department of State Services (DSS) that terrorists were planning to attack tertiary institutions in Sokoto state, describing it as the moment that pushed the group to act.
“The Defence Minister has reneged on his pledge to stop killings. He has failed the people of Sokoto. He has failed Nigerians,” the statement read.
The group recalled Musa’s own words on assuming office: “I knew that I could not afford to fail myself, fail my nation, fail my family,” and said his conduct in office had contradicted that commitment.
MURIC gave the minister until Monday, August 24, 2026, as the start date of the 14-day countdown, demanding visible and verifiable changes to the security apparatus in and around Sokoto within that window.
The group was explicit that the city must be made, in its words, “impregnable and unassailable,” adding that “no single ant must climb on the Sultan’s skin.”
“The alternative is for the minister to submit his letter of resignation on or before the ultimatum. There is no other option on the table,” the statement concluded.
