Popular Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has said attacks
by bandits have lessened since he and others started engagements with the
criminals.
He stated this on Wednesday evening while featuring on Arise
TV’s ‘News Night’ programme.
Sheikh Gumi said, “Attacks have lessened, it is just one
case we have of the Kagara boys. We have seen absolute change in Zamfara and
Sokoto States where negotiations are going on.
“So, you don’t take sporadic cases and explode it. Even the
Maiduguri incident, I don’t think it is a big threat because the military has surrounded
the town. There is no continuous bombardment, just sporadic attacks.
Negotiations are very useful to get sense into the heads of these boys.”
The cleric also said the task of combating the security
challenges confronting the nation required the involvement of every Nigerian,
He said, “There should be a combination of both kinetic and non-kinetic methods of dealing with insecurity. What we witnessed in Maiduguri, you will know that the attackers were right inside the town meaning that they have some protection from the local population.
“The whole society should be responsible; it is not just the
work of the government or the military, the society should provide the
intelligence needed and the elderly and the clergy in the society should come
together to speak to every single youth so that we get this thing under
control.”
Of late, Sheikh Gumi has been seen in photos holding talks
with notorious bandits in the forests of Zamfara, Niger and other states. He
had also advocated blanket amnesty for the bandits like was done for the
militants in the Niger Delta region.
Sheikh Gumi said bandits had
only killed a “few” people accidentally, adding that they killed for “revenge”.
Sheikh Gumi’s latest comment attracted outrage on social
media with many users describing him as the spokesperson for bandits in the
country. The involvement of Sheikh Gumi with the bandits had also made former
aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, to urge the Department of
State Services to summon the cleric and question him for incitement.
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