Renowed northern Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, said
if government could pardon coup plotters that committed treasonable felony,
there was nothing wrong extending the same gesture to bandits.
The Islamic cleric, while responding to the Christian
Association of Nigeria in Kaduna on Thursday, said there was need to forgive
bandits for the country to have peace.
Gumi added, “Even those that instigated civil war, the civil
war that millions of people died, were pardoned. I see no reason why we cannot
accept their (bandits) repentance and give them amnesty.”
Gumi added that he never betrayed soldiers of Christian faith
before the bandits when he visited them.
He noted that he was misunderstood by CAN because the video
that went viral about his discussion with the bandits was distorted and the
actual message was manipulated.
Gumi said, “You ask why do we give them amnesty but they
told us specifically that they are ready to drop their arms and they don’t want
to be pursued with legal actions after they repented.
“If the country could pardon coup plotters who committed
treasonable offences in the era of military administration, the bandits can as
well enjoy similar forgiveness even better under democratic rule.
“These people in the bush, who have taken arms; they are
criminals. I wonder who is not a criminal. Since Nigeria forgave coup plotters,
forgave those that killed. Even those that instigated civil war; civil war that
millions of people died, I see no reason why we cannot accept their repentance.
“Since that is the bottleneck and it is only the Federal
Government that can give them that leverage. Strangely, we found out that they
are victims too. They were victims of profiling. So many of them were arrested
and punished just for looking like herdsmen.”
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