Gumi offers to act as intermediary with bandits to secure release of kidnapped hostages

CONTROVERSIAL Muslim cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has announced that he is prepared to act as a go-between and negotiate with armed bandits who recently abducted 287 schoolchildren in Kaduna State in a bid to facilitate their release.

Earlier this week, the pupils were abducted from Kuriga Government Secondary and Local Education Authority Primary schools in Chikun Local Government Area of the state. Sheikh Gumi, who has entered into dialogue with these bandits in the past, said he will facilitate the release of the abducted schoolchildren should President Bola Tinubu give him the opportunity to negotiate.

He added that President Tinubu must not repeat the mistake made by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who refused to dialogue with bandits. Highly divisive and seen as one of the subtle backers behind Fulani herdsmen who have unleashed a reign of terror on Nigeria, Sheikh Gumi is also said to be one of the main backers of armed bandits involved in widespread kidnapping across northwest Nigeria.

In the past, Sheikh Gumi travelled to Zamfara State to meet with the bandits, where he negotiated an amnesty programme with them. He has repeatedly said that these bandits should not be prosecuted despite them unleashing terror on the country, adding that for peace to reign, they must be pardoned under an amnesty programme.

A trained medical doctor and a retired Nigerian Army captain, Sheikh Gumi once took his team to the forests in Kogi State where they offered medical services to Fulani herdsmen and their families. While there, he issued a statement to Arewa Voice explaining what the medical outreach programme was meant to accomplish.

In a daring attack this week, bandits invaded the Kuriga area of the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, shooting at their victims before taking away at least 280 of the pupils and teachers from two schools. This incident occurred barely 24 hours after insurgents abducted 200 internally displaced women in Ngala in Borno State, where women were kidnapped while fetching firewood in the bush.

However, the Kaduna State government has refused to dialogue with the bandits to release the schoolchildren and has also refuted claims that it had hired a private negotiator to facilitate the release of the victims. However, Sheikh Gumi said: “The government’s stand of no negotiation with the bandits is an unfortunate position.

"My advice is that the government should dialogue with the bandits not only for these Kuriga school children’s abductions but all cases. Also, the government should use the same approach it used in releasing passengers that were abducted on the Abuja–Kaduna train in 2022 to release the Kuriga school children and others.

“I am ready to lead a holistic dialogue between the government and bandits. It is my religious duty to do so for peace. I hope the present government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will listen by dialoguing with the bandits because the past administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari refused to do so.”