Shehu Sani reveals three common factors in the murders of clerics in northern Nigeria

Shehu Sani, a former senator for Kaduna Central, says prominent clerics assassinated in northern Nigeria over the past 15 years shared three factors: they spoke out against extremism, promoted interfaith tolerance and peace, or named terrorist leaders or groups in their sermons. In a post on X, he said terrorists killed them for speaking against terrorism. Sani also recalled that in 2011 he travelled privately to Maiduguri with former president Olusegun Obasanjo to initiate a peace dialogue. The day after they returned to Abuja, the person who facilitated the dialogue was killed, and they received threats.