Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has said he’s not a
bandit-lover, in an apparent response to the Special Adviser to the President
on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.
Adesina, in an article titled, ‘I Like This Pampering. Don’t
You?’ had hailed the military for its offensive against bandits in the north.
The military’s action was faulted by Gumi who said those at
the receiving end “are going nowhere,” adding that “they are already in battle
gear.”
Without mentioning the cleric’s name, the presidential aide
had said, “A bandit-lover is on record as saying military offensive would not
work, and that the bandits “are going nowhere.”
“True? False. They are going somewhere. And that is: hell.”
Reacting, Gumi, in an article titled, ‘War Has Never Been A
Solution Anytime Anywhere,’ dissociated himself from the bandit-lover tag.
He said, “You bootlicker that called me a bandit-lover! I am
not one, but my country-lover, my region-lover, my state-lover, and my
people-lover, and humanity-lover.
“I am a qualified medical
doctor who knows what it takes to precisely excise a brain tumour without
destroying the delicate surrounding brain tissues. I was a commissioned
military officer who knows what the military is for and what is the capability
of our military. I am an intellectual with a PhD from abroad. I am an Islamic
scholar who knows the immorality of killing innocent lives. So, silence for me
in this ocean of oblivion is not an option.
“Only a fool would allow his dwelling to be a theatre of
war. Unfortunately, how many fools are there. Killing rats in your rat-infested
sitting room with an iron rod will only end up destroying your gadgets and
furniture probably without killing any. We should not mask out poor governance
with artillery power.
“Some disingenuous people say: peace and negotiations with
herdsmen, bandits have failed, and your mission has failed!
“I said my mission has not failed but it was sabotaged or
discouraged by the same influential people that benefit from the chaos or like
us to destroy ourselves and leave the herdsmen in perpetual ignorance.
“Some said we have tried amnesty but it didn’t work. You
didn’t try amnesty but tried amnesia. Amnesty without rehabilitation,
reconciliation, and reparation is no amnesty. Ask the former Niger Delta Militants
who killed security men in the past what an amnesty is. What stops us from
having a federal ministry of Nomadic Affairs where their grievances and
complaints will be addressed?
“All the bandit leaders we saw complained of how some
repentant ones were picked and extra-judicially killed after the surrender of
their weapons. Without their trust of the very unjust system all Nigerians
complain of, which they took arms to fight, peace and negotiations with them
will not work. This brings our role of mediation. They know as religious men we
will not deceive them, and they came out in troops to meet us. To our
astonishment, it is the same unjust system that turns round to betray our peace
mission. Some of the press for giving a negative narrative, whom I also term
criminals-in-purpose, some of the politicians who I see as urban-bandits who
out of their share mismanagement of our meagre resources and misplacement of
priority cause the death and infirmity of more people than the bandits affect.
“Of recent, how many Nigerians die of cholera -a water-born
disease- because of lack of simple clean water to drink, or typhoid, malaria,
and malnutrition? A nation with a maternal mortality rate of almost
500,000/annum because of the lack of adequate maternal health facilities and
qualified staff. A country where its highly-priced medical personnel is looking
for a window to escape the inferno. Such a country, please!”
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