The Nigerian government has invited Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi for questioning over his comments on the activities of bandits in the country.
The controversial scholar gained prominence for his comments on the activities of bandits as he has been pictured with some bandits on many occasions.
Recall that the former military officer had said the use of force wouldn’t tackle the banditry as the bandits are getting more vicious.
His reaction sprung up when he offered to dialogue with bandits who abducted students from the Government Secondary and LEA Primary schools, in the Kuriga community under Chikun Local Government Area in Kaduna.
Gumi posited that the government ought to go closer to the bandits and study them to provide them with better living conditions.
“These bandits are getting more vicious. Before they were not doing this. They are heading to softer targets and we can only attribute this to the kinetic approach.
“Now we are fighting bandits. They are anonymous. You cannot fight someone you don’t even know. We said let’s go in, let us know them, let’s map them out – know who they are and where they belong. All this intelligence information is virtually not there.
“The high-handed approach to the matter is what is making it worse. Now they are kidnapping children and threatening death, which they were not doing before. So, I think what to do is really go back to the drawing board and be truly non-kinetic,” he had said.
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Gumi also accused the Federal Government of framing up its enemies by tagging them as terrorism financiers in his reaction to the identities of 15 entities recently released by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) for alleged terrorism.
However, Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and Orientation announced the invite of Gumi while addressing journalists at the State House, in Abuja on Monday.
Idris said the security agencies will do their work if they feel Gumi’s statements are “reckless.”
“The government will stop at nothing to get any kind of information that is required to solve our problems. The security agencies are up and doing.
“Sheik Gumi and any other individual are not above the law, if he has suggestions that are good enough and that are constructive enough for the security agencies to take, they will take.
“But if they think that he is also making some statements that appear to be reckless, he will also be reprimanded.
“There is nobody above the law. Let me put it here. And I’m aware that he has also been a guest of security agencies to answer questions.
“When you make remarks, especially those that border on our national security, it is incumbent on our national security to think further, and they are doing just that, no one is above the law,” the Minister said.
