Security
Islamic cleric, Sheikh Gumi begs over 500 bandits to drop arms
Respected Islamic cleric, Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Gumi has sued for peace in as he met with over 500 bandits in Zamfara State and urged them to drop their arms.
He met with the weapons wielding bandits terrorising Shinkafi Local Government Area of the state.
The visit is a continuation of Gumi’s peace seeking efforts to tackle the insurgency in the northeast.
At the meeting, top commanders of the bandits group, Kachalla Turji of Shinkafi and Kachalla Muhammadu Bello, complained against how security agencies have been responsible for them taking up arms.
Speaking in Hausa dialect, they said many of them became bandits because security officers killed their families and destroyed their possessions through cattle rustling, extortion and military bombardment.
Having with no means of survival, they took up banditry. They also added that the government has not been sincere in the fight against banditry in the state.
Responding to the complaints of the bandits, Gumi appealed to them to seek peace and drop arms.
He said he will get in touch with President Muhammadu Buhari to seek legitimate ways to address their grievances.
Recall that Gumi had in January held peace meetings with about 500 bandits in Kidandan, Giwa Local Government Area, Kaduna State.
And a report from the Desert Herald says that Gumi’s carrot approach has the backing of the federal government and the police because all sides are trying to find a permanent end to the insecurity in the Northern region.
Following the meeting, Zamfara State Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle urged clerics in the state to follow the footsteps of Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Ahmad Mahmud Gumi by holding peace talks with bandits terrorising the territory and telling them to surrender their arms.
