While Nigeria’s security forces are still battling to set the nation free from the grip of Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa Province, ISWAP in the North Eastern geopolitical zone, a popular Islamic cleric, Sheik Ahmed Abubakar Gumi, has raised the red flag on a looming danger.
Speaking when he featured on Arise News ‘Morning Show on Wednesday, the cleric warned that rampaging herdsmen in the forests across the country may turn full-blown terrorists if appropriate measures were not taken on time.
Gumi, who advocated for amnesty for armed herdsmen, further warned that allowing them to be radicalized religiously in terrorist fashion signaled a bad omen for the country.
“Now, the herdsmen are slowly becoming radicalized in a terrorist form, I mean religiously, and this is a bad omen for us. Because when they begin to come out reading religious texts to justify what they are doing, then, it becomes difficult to convince them to come out and negotiate. And I am saying this, let’s go and get them before the evil forces capture them”, Gumi warned. https://scudnewsng.com
He also spoke on the increasing wave of banditry, saying the nation was in a tribal war in which the Federal Government had taken sides.
“This is tribal war going on and the government taking one side. What I see now is a tribal war. Fulani fighting Yoruba in the South West, fighting Igbo in the South East and fighting in other areas in the North.
“What you call banditry, when you cross to the other side, you discover Nigeria is fighting a tribal war and government is supposed to be the mediator, it supposed to be neutral, it’s not supposed to take sides.
“But the moment government takes side it becomes part of the conflict. And this is what I saw in Zamfara state, in Niger state and other states.
“When you said these bandits are committing atrocities, yes, agree they are committing crimes – they are killing people, they are kidnapping, they are raping, they are doing all sorts of atrocities. But, have you for once go to their sides and see all sorts of atrocities that are also committed against them?
Gumi says rather than wielding the big stick and relying on military action, the Federal Government will do well in restoring normalcy by engaging the bandits in negotiation and using willing volunteers among them to win the battle.
“Shekau had been causing havoc in the country for more than 10 years and the military could not kill him but ISWAP, a splinter group from book haram was able to eliminate him. So is the case with the herdsmen. We can use them to suppress the criminals among them.
“As we all know, at a point, the Book Haram were ready for dialogue and at a point, they even recommended the current president (Buhari) to negotiate for them. Former president Olusegun Obasanjo had tried to broker peace with Boko Haram”, Gumi said.
He expressed dismay at the Federal Government’s reaction to growing separatist agitations including the clamour for Biafra Republic by the outlawed Indigenous People of Briafra, IPOB.
“Government doesn’t want to recognize that there are agitations. Even with the IPOB, if I were the government, I will go and sit down with them and ask what the problem is. Why are you carrying weapons against your own country? So it is with the herdsmen. They are ready to negotiate”.
