During a plenary session held on Tuesday, 10 Tuesday 2026, on the floor of the state, former Senate president, Ahmad Lawan, urged the Islamic community to tackle clerics who preach radical Islam.
Lawan contended that confronting harmful indoctrination within Islam lies mainly with Muslims themselves, rather than the government.
“Let me say that Islamic society or the Muslim community also has a responsibility here. Those who preach what is not Islam need to be dealt with by the Muslim community. Because if we allow people who preach what is never in the books, it means we will continue to have this kind of situation,” he said.
The lawmaker, 66, further explained the matter thus, “I was particularly saying the Islamic community itself, not the government, because not everybody in government understands what happens, but we do – those of us who have that faith.
The founding member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) also suggested children and indeed the entire citizenry should be protected from the hands of religious leaders who prioritise indoctrination.
“We should work to ensure that people are protected from being unnecessarily indoctrinated,” he insisted.
On the deplorable condition of roads which facilitate terrorism, the 14 Senate President tasked the leadership of the Red Chamber and his “distinguished colleagues, to address this particular situation [banditry] because it enhances the chances of these criminals to attack, since motorists or the situation with the problem of the roads, would not allow for escape.”
The Yobe North Senatorial District’s representative in the Nigerian State, also sent his condolences to the Emir and people of Kaiama, praying that the souls of those who have been killed “rest in aljanatu firduasi.”
His condolences came at the heels of the 3 February deadly attacks on Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State by suspected terrorists who launched coordinated attacks that left 177 people dead, with several residents missing.
Locals told the press that the jihadists were frustrated because they refused to allow them to come and preach in their mosques.
