Popular Islamic cleric, Sheik Ahmad Gumi has reiterated his call for the pardon of bandits. This time, he stirred up controversy saying that if Ojukwu who caused a civil war that resulted in the death of millions of people was pardoned, forgiving bandits should not be an exception.
The vocal religious leader who has been at the forefront of many banditry negotiations, including the release of the 42 teachers and students abducted from the Government Science School, Kagara, expressed his views in an interview with THE WHISTLER.
Gumi, in the chat, spoke about the insecurity in Nigeria, the Buhari administration, IPOB, and the 2023 general elections.
Giving bandits a chance
Gumi corrected the impression that he was a spokesman for bandits who have continued to terrorize Nigeria, particularly the North by engaging in criminal activities like killing, cattle rustling, and kidnapping for ransom. Rather, he said he was speaking for Nigerians who have no voice.
“I’m not a spokesperson of bandits but a spokesperson for Nigerians who have no voice. That lack of voice has led them to great criminality. So I am saying let’s listen to them, let’s hear from them, and then if we understand their grievances that would be the first step to solving the problem we have. So I’m not speaking on their behalf, but acting like a doctor would do the patient,” Gumi said.
Recently, news filtered where Gumi had asked the Nigerian government to allow ‘good bandits’ to work with the military so that the bad ones can be flushed out. This caused rage in some quarters of the country as many likened his comments to absurdity. Speaking on what he meant, Gumi said:
“A good bandit is a bandit that has repented and is ready to join the society and respect civil laws. He’s a good bandit because he has repented. You can use them to suppress those who’re recalcitrant, the real thieves, who are doing it not for any other thing but for criminality. You have criminals in every society.”
On forgiveness of bandits
Calling for the forgiveness of bandits, Gumi said Ojukwu who led the civil war was forgiven, therefore, the same should apply to bandits.
“Ojukwu caused the civil war by embarking on armed conflict for secession. It resulted in the death of millions of people. But he was forgiven completely for national reconciliation. So if somebody who caused the death of two million people can be forgiven, why not forgive people who will bring peace? Because forgiveness will come with peace. It’s not just freeing, We’re not just freeing a criminal, we’re doing a thing that will stop criminality further. If you say you’re not going to forgive him, he will kill more people further and we don’t have the capacity to tackle them.
“Because any crime that people are committing in hundreds of thousands is no more crime, its agitation. So, you don’t deal with them as simple criminals but as agitators. That’s why when the Niger Delta militants were abducting foreigners, vandalizing pipelines, and killing police and soldiers, what happened at the end of the day? When the amnesty program came, Nigerians accepted it. So it’s not something new I am saying. It’s just that after I went into the forest, I discovered that there is a large number of them that can benefit from amnesty and that can cure the problem,” Gumi said.
FG’s rehabilitation not comprehensive
It would be recalled that the federal government, in time past, granted amnesty and rehabilitation to repentant Boko Haram members. This, however, did not stop insurgency in the North East. Gumi blamed this on the lack of a comprehensive rehabilitation program.
The cleric said:
“I want to see a comprehensive programme. Then, you see, the root cause of this thing is economic war. There’s too much disparity in the distribution of wealth in Nigeria, so many people are poor, so many people cannot cure themselves. They just use tribalism and religion, and for herdsmen, they’re using the ethnic cards. But it’s an economic war. So why don’t we try to bring about equitable distribution of wealth and bring people out of poverty? China was able to bring one hundred million people out of abject poverty to an acceptable level in one year. Nigeria should do that if not crimes would continue.”
Bandits have no sponsors…
Though there are allegations that high profiled individuals are sponsoring banditry, Gumi has said this is false.
He said:
“No, nobody. They’re just looking for an escape route not to take responsibility. Nobody is causing that. In fact, if there’s anyone it’s the Military that is contributing to terrorism. Just two days ago the military destroyed Fulani ruga settlement. They destroyed it and you see women and children crying. It’s behind the NYSC camp in Kaduna. It’s on Facebook.
“So, the military has contributed to the high-handedness of the bandits. It’s not a hidden secret; extortion by police and the military of the ordinary herdsmen. They catch them without committing any offense and they would have to sell their cows to bail themselves. If you interview any Fulani man on the road they will tell you. Ask him how do you see our security people? They will tell you they’re useless people. They’ll arrest you for no offense and ask you to bail yourself by selling your cows.”
Gumi continued, “Who’s sponsoring who? For what? How do you sponsor somebody to come and start killing people? No. It’s the criminalities, the rustling of their cattle and the extortion. In fact, the rustling of cattle affected the Fulani more than any other. When they lost their cattle, then they’re extorted. And they don’t have the right to complain because if they are taken to court it’s extortion again because they are considered illiterates. And they have wives which is the cow. Everybody is feeding on them until when the cows are finished, they realized that they have been targeted and profiled. Then they form into an ethnic enclave and say we have to fight back. And then they’re introduced to drugs, kidnapping and they’re making money now. So you have to break the circle if you want to stop the criminalities. Remove the ethnic element, empower them, give them cattle, settle them and educate them. Without education, they would come back to the crime because an ignorant man is an atomic bomb.
“So, I don’t think there’s any politician that will like to see all this mayhem that is happening. No. Maybe Boko Haram, yes, it started with politicians. But this herdsmen issue is something that started within them.”
Buhari is incompetent, listens only when you sing his songs
Speaking further, Gumi said Buhari was incompetent and only listens when his song is being sung. He said he had not been in Buhari’s good books that is why the government has failed to support him.
“Because, right from the inception of this regime, I have not been in their good books. And this is one of the bad things with this government, and especially with Buhari. When he thinks you’re not his friend, he excommunicates you. You may have the cure for his problem, but if you’re not his friend, he would say No. He doesn’t have that wide chest like IBB who can accept people who criticize him. You can see that in the way he handled the Twitter issue. That is the attitude of the government. Whoever they think is against them they will not do with you. But I’m only against them the way I was against IBB, Obasanjo, Jonathan and others. When I see policies that are anti-people, I speak out,” Gumi voiced.
No Fulani Agenda
With the frequent herdsmen attacks in the south, which has made many Nigerians believe there is a Fulani agenda, Gumi said it is not true.
“I was telling a respectable southern leader, I said look, don’t overrate these herdsmen. One, it’s like an ocean where the big fish swallows the small fish. One of my students was kidnapped and he spent nine days with the kidnappers. He said in the night when they are moving and they see light from the vehicle of another group of bandits in the forest, they would hide. They have to hide when they see another group of bandits that are more than their own group, if not they will attack them, collect their weapon and their victims. So, he told us they and their kidnappers would be hiding from other kidnappers in the forest.
“So what I’m trying to say is that if the Fulani bandits do not have unity among themselves, can we talk of any agenda? Which agenda? These are ignorant illiterate people. What agenda?”
Gumi added, “I told you the army destroyed their camp yesterday. So, I really feel sorry for Buhari when I hear people from the south criticizing him. These people don’t know Buhari. He is not there for anybody. He is not for anybody. There’s a lady related to him who spoke about Buhari in a video that had gone viral. She claimed to be in the same family with Buhari but she’s a beggar!
“So, the man is not helping anybody. When he said he’s working with the constitution it’s true; he’s working with the constitution. If you’re related to him and the constitution doesn’t say he should do anything for you he won’t do it. Let’s be honest, there’s no agenda. Buhari is not doing anything for herdsmen. If there’s anybody getting anything, maybe he doesn’t know. They know his weakness.”
IPOB agitation
Speaking on the agitations of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Sheik Gumi said whether their grievances were right or wrong, they were going about it the wrong way.
He said it will not be wrong if the government dialogues with the proscribed group but is IPOB looking for one?
Nigeria is breaking…
Speaing about his worry for Nigeria, Gumi said, “My major worry is that if Buhari continues the way he’s doing, one and a half years remaining from his tenure is too long for Nigeria. There would be too much casualties. But I’m sure a concerted leadership will cure this problem in no time. It’s just leadership problem that we have. Give it to the right man, things will go well.”
“Oh yes, it’s almost breaking now. Things are falling apart and the army is overstretched. The economy is bad. Modern economy is tied to stability of the country. No stability, no economy.,” Gumi responded when he wak asked if he was scared of Nigeria breaking up.
On the 2023 elections, Gumi said he doesn’t want power to go anywhere. When asked if he wanted power to remain in the North and if President Buhari wasn’t a Northerner, Gumi said, “I don’t want power to go anywhere.
“No no no. Is it because a northerner is president? When his people are wallowing in poverty and diseases? Is that been in power? What we need are leaders who can bring equitable development to everywhere. That’s what we need.”