Ex-US mayor, Sultan clash over alleged Christian genocide

Sultan

A former Mayor of Blanco City in Texas, United States of America, Mike Arnold, has called on the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar III, to provide evidence to clear himself of his alleged involvement in what he described as “jihad genocide” and widespread killings in the country.

But the Sultanate Council of Sokoto described Arnold’s statement as baseless and undeserving of a response, saying the Sultan would not dignify the accusations with a reply.

The row erupted after Arnold, the founder of Africa Arise International, published a string of social media posts accusing the Sultan of being complicit in mass killings and resource looting in parts of northern Nigeria.

The Sultan had earlier rejected claims that Christians were being subjected to genocide in the North, saying such allegations were false and divisive, and urged the people to verify social media reports.

The Sultanate Council later described the fresh attacks on the monarch’s reputation as baseless and said the Sultan would not dignify the claims with further response.

However, speaking with Saturday PUNCH, Arnold said available data and incidents across the northern part of the country suggested that the Sultan, being the spiritual and temporal head of more than 108 million Muslims, could not be entirely detached from the violent acts occurring “under his nose.”

Arnold questioned what he called the Sultan’s “silence and inaction” amid the wave of violent attacks and mass killings in the North, particularly those targeting Christian communities. Punch