Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has elicited fresh controversy after defending bandits terrorising northern Nigeria, insisting they are on “revenge missions” and not driven by random violence.
Speaking on Trust TV, Gumi argued that Fulani herdsmen and bandit groups “do not attack people without any cause.”
“The former governor of Bauchi State, (Isa) Yuguda, was able also to go with a government delegation into the bush and they met more than 5000 bandits. They are all complaining — those who have lost their parents, those who have lost their brothers, those from hostility too,” Gumi said.
Admitting that killings by the gunmen were “wrong and obnoxious,” Gumi claimed the attackers were motivated by vengeance, not cruelty.
“Yes, I know they have killed, and it’s wrong to kill anybody innocent. This is absolutely an obnoxious thing to do. We don’t support that. But you see, if you know their psychology, they are on a revenge mission,” he said.
Known for his soft stance on bandits, the cleric again urged the Tinubu government to negotiate rather than deploy troops against them.
“What I think the government needs to do is to really bring them together in a unison and in a holistic form so that there is peace. They are ready for that, because if you call them for peace, they come,” he added.
Gumi further claimed that Fulani herdsmen had lived peacefully with other groups for centuries and are only reacting to injustices.
“Everybody knows the herdsmen, as well as the Fulani herdsmen. They don’t just attack people. We have been living with them for centuries. They don’t attack people without any cause,” he insisted.
The cleric then drew a fiery comparison between bandits and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), accusing the latter of rejecting peace.
“It’s unlike the others like IPOB. The government has been trying to dialogue with them; they still refuse. They are still behind creating a separate state. They are secessionists. Besides being terrorists, they are secessionists. Well, these people (bandits) are not secessionists. They want peace,” Gumi declared.
