Kaduna-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has
disclosed why he opted to meet with bandits terrorizing the Northern part of
the country.
Gumi disclosed that his interaction with bandits was borne
out of his quest to find a solution to the crisis in the North.
Speaking with Dailypost, the controversial Islamic cleric
said bandits want peace and are willing to interact with well meaning Nigerians
who can be trusted.
He, however, maintained that military confrontation was not the solution to banditry.
Bandits: Gumi discloses role he, Obasanjo played in release
of Kaduna students
Gumi stressed that military confrontation would lead to
collateral damage for both the security agencies and the country.
According to Gumi: “My interest is that my own country is
ravaged with a problem nobody is willing to find a solution to, loss of life,
peasant farmers can’t farm anymore. And we as intellectuals can’t fold arms and
wait for the government to solve our problems. We have to do it ourselves.
“And as a trained medical doctor, you don’t tackle a problem
without diagnosis; that is what made me veer into it, going into the bush to
find the solution.
“The solution we found indicates that there can never be
military attacks because the collateral damage would be too much for them and
the country.
“Look at the American Army, they have not been able to
conquer the Taliban and I can tell you that the nomadic Fulanis are more in
number than Talibans, so a military conflict is not the solution.
“Suddenly, I realized that these people too want peace and
that gave me the inspiration that I should take this dialogue to the national
stage, let Nigerians understand that we are doing this to broker permanent
peace by sitting down with these people and showing them what is possible and
what is not.
“And they are ready for that so I don’t see why Nigerians
should be so engrossed. Many people are not ready for discussion once they hear
Fulani, so also in the bush, once they hear vigilante they say ‘we can never
sit down to discuss anything with them’. So I think well meaning Nigerians who
can be trusted to come in between.”
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