Gumi is now bandits' spiritual leader, northern group fumes, calls for investigation of cleric
- A Kaduna socio-cultural group known as the Southern Kaduna Peoples’ Union has raised questions about Sheik Ahmad Gumi's dealings with bandits
- SOKAPU has claimed that Gumi is now more interested in the welfare of the criminals than in getting justice for victims
- The group, therefore called on security agencies to immediately investigate the activities of the cleric
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The brave position of Sheik Abubakar Ahmad Gumi in negotiating with bandits in the north has been applauded by some Nigerians.
However, Gumi's call for the federal government to grant them amnesty has been frowned at by some groups, one of which is the Southern Kaduna Peoples’ Union (SOKAPU), Punch reports.
The national spokesman of SOKAPU, Luka Binniyat, believes security agencies in Nigeria should investigate the stance of Gumi, who according to him, has become a spiritual leader to the criminals.
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In his opinion, Binniyat believes that negotiating with bandits who have inflicted pain and untold suffering on thousands in the state is outrightly dubious.
The spokesman went to say that he saw a video in which Gumi claimed that the bandits are angry as they are killed by non-Muslim soldiers.
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Binniyat said:
"He told them that the soldiers killing them were not Muslim soldiers. He said that when they attack a community in ‘vengeance’, they should choose their targets well. He expresses revulsion on how a group recently kidnapped a group of travellers and that among them was a woman in the Islamic hijab carrying a small baby.
"So, you see, the cleric is making himself like the spiritual leader of the bandits. If the bandits deserve any negotiation it is with the law for justice to take its cause."
He wondered why Gumi is "not interested in justice and restitution for the thousands of the surviving victims of their evil, but the welfare and freedom of the evildoers."
Meanwhile, the federal government had been urged to extend blanket amnesty to Fulanis involved in kidnappings as well as everyone carrying a gun in the south.
Gumi gave the advice in an interview on Sunday, February 21. According to the Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, the bandits involved in kidnappings are Nigerians and not foreigners.
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Onyirioha Nnamdi is a graduate of Literature and English Language at the University of Lagos. He is a Politics/Current Affairs Editor who writes on news and political topics for Legit.ng. He brings into his reporting a wealth of experience in creative and analytical writing. Nnamdi has a major interest in local and global politics.
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