Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has revealed that federal government officials accompany him during negotiations with bandits, stating that “one cannot go alone” in such situations.
Gumi, who has consistently called for amnesty for bandits and advocated for negotiations as a path to peace, disclosed this during an interview with *PUNCH*.
He added that traditional institutions and state government officials also join him during these negotiations.
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He said: “One thing Nigerians should understand is that I have never been to any den of these people without officials of the government. I go with the police because one cannot go alone; you must go with them.
“Only that they will tell you there is a perimeter—don’t come with some of them. Sometimes, I also go with traditional institutions and state government officials. My plan is only to broker peace with them. They open their doors for us to sit and discuss issues.”
On allegations that bandits are being sponsored by politicians, he said: “No politician is sponsoring these people. We are all victims. The opposition is not even behind this. This is a natural reaction of people neglected for centuries.
“Now they are exposed to the world and they want education. These people are exposed to the internet and see how much they are deprived.
“They want to fight back. This act is not orchestrated by anybody. To our surprise, in a school built for herdsmen in a village between Abuja and Kaduna, over 600 of them, along with their families, have started schooling there. They are telling us they don’t want their children to be like them. Imagine if we did that all around the country.”
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