Tobi Adebayo
Former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Usman Yusuf has defended Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi over his role as a mediator between the Federal Government and bandits.
Speaking during an Arise News programme monitored by THIS NIGERIA, Yusuf said that Gumi was not negotiating on behalf of bandits, rather he was trying to get them to surrender their weapons.
“Gumi is not a controversial person. All he does is to try to talk to the bandits, to know their grievances and get them to surrender their weapons. He means well for the country and wants peace to reign. He loves this country more than anything else. That is why we keep risking our lives to approach these bandits in order to get them to stop this evil,” he said.
Usman Yusuf stated further that the bandits were not foreigners as being speculated by the media.
Philippines declares state of calamity over African swine fever
“These bandits are Fulanis. They are Nigerians. They are our flesh and blood. The only thing foreign about them is their weapons.”
Yusuf revealed further that Sheik Gumi and former President Olusegun Obasanjo secured the release of the remaining 27 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation without paying a ransom.
“No money changed hands. No gunshots were exchanged and no lives were lost. Chief Obasanjo made it clear from the start that no money will be paid to the bandits and it was left that way.”
He also said that banditry was a social problem rather than a military one.
“It is no use deploying the Military to fight the bandits. This is a social problem and rather than spending millions of dollars on weapons to fight banditry, these are people that the Federal Government should be giving bottles of water to instead,” Yusuf said.
