Sheikh Ahmad Gumi is a Kaduna-based Islamic cleric who has been very vocal about terrorism and the Nigerian government. Kaduna, although gripped by terror, had Gumi making utterances that prompted the federal government to invite him for questioning. In the recent event in Kaduna, he mentioned that the government should explore the approach of tending to the needs of the bandits rather than involving the military. The notion of sanctity as a religious head plays little to no role here.
According to him, “These bandits are getting more vicious. Before they were not doing this. They are heading to softer targets and we can only attribute this to the kinetic approach.
“Now we are fighting bandits. They are anonymous. You cannot fight someone you don’t even know. We said let’s go in, let us know them, let’s map them out – know who they are and where they belong. All this intelligence information is virtually not there.
“Now we are fighting bandits. They are anonymous. You cannot fight someone you don’t even know. We said let’s go in, let us know them, let’s map them out – know who they are and where they belong. All this intelligence information is virtually not there.
“The high-handed approach to the matter is what is making it worse. Now they are kidnapping children and threatening death, which they were not doing before. So, I think what to do is really go back to the drawing board and be truly non-kinetic.”
Recall that he once stated in an interview prior to the 2023 presidential election that negotiations with bandits and other criminals, rather than military force, have been responsible for the reduction in crime rates across the country. Is the involvement of the military a factor that led to the rise of unrest and kidnappings in Kaduna and across the country?
By Chidimma NWAFOR
