The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, says those who kill in the guise of fulfilling God’s injunction, will go to hellfire. The Sultan said this while speaking at the 9th Dignity of Man Lecture at the 57 Founders Day celebrations of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). 

According to the monarch, those who kill believing they were doing it for God and would afterward go to heaven, are telling themselves a huge lie. He said that human life should be protected, whether the person is a Muslim or not, adding that the dignity of man covers all, including Muslims, Christians, Hindus and others.

“Shouting Allahu Akbar to kill your fellow human being in the belief that you are fulfilling God’s injunction is a pathway to hell and not the teaching of Allah. Human dignity is God-given. Any society where the sanctity of life is not protected cannot be said to be civilized. In other words, the sanctity of human life, the honor conferred on the human person and the investment in the development of the human person are the metrics to measure human civilization"Guardian quotes him as saying

The monarch emphasized that Fulani herdsmen who go about killing people “are criminals and not genuine herdsmen. We don’t call them herdsmen, because herdsmen cannot kill another human to protect cow.”