Ahmad Gumi, a prominent Islamic cleric, says bandits are
gathering money made from ransom to acquire anti-aircraft missiles to repel any
attack from security forces.
Gumi had met with some suspected bandits in a forest in
Zamfara state.
After the meeting, he asked the federal government to
forgive and compensate them, saying most of them (bandits) had lost all their
possessions to cattle rustling and extortion.
Speaking in an interview with The PUNCH, the cleric said the
activities of bandits may become a full-blown insurgency if the government does
not act fast.
Gumi said bandits know the terrain of the forests better
than the military which puts them at an advantage, insisting that the best
tactic is not to use force but to “pacify” them.
“These people were the first victims of cattle rustling, who
lost all their cattle to rustlers because then, the rustlers were having the
guns. Then when they lost their cattle, they joined (the rustlers) and they
started to kidnap people. In fact, most of the kidnappings, they (the bandits)
are doing it to acquire weapons. They are now trying to buy missiles,
anti-aircraft missiles. This is already developing into a full-blown insurgency
and we should stop that,” Gumi said.
“Like I said, they are collecting ransoms to buy weapons.
They want their cows, not money. They are doing that (kidnapping) to raise
money just to buy weapons to repel helicopters and airplanes and to attack
anybody that is going to attack them. You have to understand the psychology of
these people.
“When you offer them amnesty, they drop their weapons. Then
you go in, build schools for them, build hospitals for them, get them censored;
get them registered; then you can control (them).
“You can’t have access to them through the gun. Honestly,
they know the terrain in the bush more than our military. So, it is better to
negotiate with them.”
The cleric said the bandits have informants in the armed
forces who provide them with information.
“They have collaborators everywhere – in the armed forces,
everywhere. One of them said, ‘Even this cattle rustling, we don’t have
trailers to transport cattle to where they are slaughtered. We don’t have an
abattoir.’ So, there are people who are (collaborating with them). Even the
kidnapping of the people, they said, ‘We don’t know these people; it is the
people in town that will tell us a certain person has money,” he said.
He asked the government to embrace dialogue in dealing with
the bandits to forestall the spread of their criminal activities to other
regions of the country.
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