The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar on Monday said killer herdsmen are criminals and should be treated as such.

He spoke at the opening ceremony of the 2-Day Annual Pan-Northern Groups Summit on Security, Socio-economic and political development in Kaduna.

The Sultan said clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers were socio-economic and and not ethno-religious.

“There are very terrible herdsmen who kill. But they are acting on their own, they are criminals and they must be treated as criminals. Therefore the Federal Government should prosecute them.

“It is disheartening to hear when people say Fulani herdsmen want to Islamize Nigeria and that is why they are killing. Any Fulani herdsman who kills is not acting the script of Fulani community in Nigeria, neither is he working for the Muslim community,” he said.