Tobi Adebayo
Controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi on Wednesday accused the military of aiding and abetting banditry in the North.
Gumi made the accusation during an interview on Arise News monitored by ThisNigeria.
He was responding to a question on the nationality of the bandits terrorising the North.
“These bandits are operating with a lot of criminal elements in our security system. Banditry is a business. How are the weapons being transported across the borders without any interception from security operatives? It is not possible for these weapons to come in without the knowledge of some people in the security system. There are people making money from this in the Military. The system needs a complete overhaul,” he said.
When asked where his allegiance laid, Sheikh Gumi responded that it was with the Nigerian Government and added that he will remain neutral in the scheme of things.
He also described the bandits as “children” who had been neglected by the government.
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“I do not speak for the bandits neither do I speak for those committing atrocities against them. I will remain neutral. My loyalty lies with Nigeria and its government. I will not accept criminality from any group or individual. If you watch the recently released video of kidnapped students from Kebbi, you will see that the bandits holding them hostage are also children like the victims.
“The young bandits were left to fend for themselves, to buy weapons to terrorise the nation. Why are they not in school? They are kids too. That is why I have been saying that we should go into these bushes, fish these boys out and rehabilitate them.
“We are also planning to go to the South-West, South-East gather the herdsmen and educate them on how to cohabit peacefully with indigenes. Unfortunately, we do not have enough resources to do that yet but it is in the pipelines,” Gumi stated.
