Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, the prominent Islamic cleric, who has earned himself the unwanted tag of ‘Bandits Spokesman’ has again given his two cents on Nigeria’s insecurity crisis, an issue he appears to be an expert on.
Sheikh Gumi, for his advocacy for bandits while demanding amnesty for them, has attracted suspicion from Nigerians who have often called on the Federal Government to investigate him.
The criticisms directed at Sheikh Gumi has not succeeded in deterring him from making seemingly controversial statements about bandits and Nigeria’s insecurity crisis.
Sheikh Gumi On Cause Of Insecurity
The Islamic Cleric in his latest comments on insecurity said the crisis is caused by “collective failure”, and as a result of misplaced priorities instead of ensuring good governance.
Sheikh Gumi spoke on Wednesday, at a public lecture with the theme, ‘Insecurity in Nigeria: The Causes and Youth’s Panacea’, held at the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Kaduna state.
According to the cleric, Nigerian leaders do not have a clear understanding of the negative realities affecting the masses.
“Nigeria has been suffering from leprosy. If you consider the central government and leadership as the brain of a nation, this nation is suffering from leprosy, because the brain doesn’t know what the extremities, periphery is suffering. They don’t know, They’re not feeling the pain,” he said.
“Insecurities (in plural) in Nigeria don’t need any definition. Nobody is secured socially, economically, physically, or even mentally. No personality, no institution is secured from collapse or failure. No tribe, religion, region, or section of the society that is not both a villain and a victim one way or the other. Sorry to say, we are a collective failure and we should all bear the responsibility.”
Sheikh On Why He Can Access Bandits Easily
The cleric, who is known for speaking on behalf of bandits, explained why he is able to access them without fear of being attacked.
“Unfortunately, this ethnic profiling — attributing crimes to a particular ethnic group or religion — has eaten deep into the society. At whatever instance, generalisation is always not good.
“Before I go there (to meet with bandits), I go through the door, not through the window. If you go through the door, you’ll go in and come back safely. And to make sure I’ll not be castigated or termed as aiding them or being part of them, I go with the authority.
When we go to meet bandits, they don’t care whether we have police or not. But there are some that will tell you, ‘don’t come with police from this point’. We go with greeting, gifts, and to tell them we want to teach them how to pray and listen to their complaints.
“When we go, we don’t speak; we give them the microphone to speak, even for one hour, to hear their grievances. Usually, when we approach them, we see that they’re holding their weapons ready to fire any minute.
“By the time we finish our meeting, they’ll hang their weapons and we’ll be taking pictures. This is the power of human interaction.”
Citing the Qur’an, he said there are ways to discuss with bandits without resorting to violence, adding that, “God is lenient and he will give you through leniency, what violence cannot give you.”
According to Gumi, addressing banditry will take some level of caution, as some of the bandits are also victims.
“Whenever I go to the bandits, the complaints are the same. That’s why this delicate issue has to be cured the way a brain surgeon will go into the brain, remove the tumour cells without damaging the brain cells. It’s so delicate. But that’s not how we’re doing it. It’s like a butcher trying to remove a brain tumour,” he said.
Tribalism has entered this issue. There’s a lot of forensic examination to be done when the fight is over.
“If you come to them through the door, and treat them like human beings, and respect them, don’t be surprised. If you’re nice to him, if you’re ready to listen, if you try to understand his problem, if you put your legs in his shoes, he’ll listen to you and you’ll go into the forest and come back safely.”
Sheikh Gumi Accused Of Promoting Bandits By CAN
The Christian Association of Nigeria has demanded a thorough probe of the activities of Sheikh Gumi as the Christian group express concerns that the security crises and banditry in the north would be prolonged as the Almajiri system continued unchecked.
CAN also accused Gumi of being responsible for the increasing activities of bandits in the northern part of the country. Following this, they have demanded that there should be a thorough probe into his activities.
Rev Dr. Divine Eche, the CAN chairman in Imo State raised these concerns during an interview at its 45th anniversary and Founder’s Day.
Rev. Dr Divine has advised that the Nigerian government should caution Sheikh Gumi as his utterances, had encouraged the bandits, thereby promoting their inhumane acts in the North.
Rev. Dr. Divine opined that except drastic measures were taken to curb the Almajiri system, banditry would remain in northern Nigeria for a long time with devastating effects on the socio-economic lives of the people.
His words: “You can’t have the Almajiri system of life and government in the last 40 years in our nation, bringing up people without any trace to families, hometowns or nationalities.
“These children are scattered all over the streets, without you knowing that someday, they would leave the streets and go to the bush where they would begin to do the trade of kidnapping.
Also, you can’t, in a sane nation, have the likes of Sheikh Gumi, a religious scholar, going about promoting banditry and you don’t think that this will continue. Yet, that is what we are seeing today.
“We are not seeing anything more than what we have planted. We allowed this thing (insecurity) to continue and it is now going to consume the nation if drastic measures are not put in place to take them (Almajiri) out of the streets. Give them a sense of belonging, put them in school, and help them realize their potential.
“These bandits were the Almajiri who used to be in front of our houses and begging. Howbeit, we are praying and that is why God is still sustaining our nation. I trust God will continue to sustain us in Jesus name.”
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