Gumi and his bandit ‘neighbours’
Any attack on terrorists who have troubled Nigeria for so long is attack on family. That is the new gospel according to Islamic cleric, Sheik Ahmad Gumi. He urged Nigerians
Any attack on terrorists who have troubled Nigeria for so long is attack on family. That is the new gospel according to Islamic cleric, Sheik Ahmad Gumi. He urged Nigerians to learn to live with armed herders, typically associated with terrorism and banditry, because they are “neighbours” and should not be treated as enemies.
The controversial cleric made his apologia in a video post against the backdrop of recent United States airstrikes on terrorist hideouts in Nigeria, which the Nigerian government said it authorised and actively collaborated with. He said the people being attacked were part of the country and were not going anywhere. His words: “They are going nowhere. They are a part of us, and we are part of them. We must learn to live together and should never become enemies with them.”
Gumi said treating terrorists as enemies was detrimental to national security because “real enemies” could then use them against the nation. The cleric has often canvassed dialogue with, and amnesty for bandits, arguing they are driven by a sense of marginalisation and are more a “resistance movement” than violent criminals His latest intervention falls in line with that rhetoric of framing the activities of terrorists as a survival struggle and not a crime deserving of crackdown.
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A day before the video post, Gumi called on the Nigerian government to stop all military cooperation with the US following America’s airstrikes on suspected terrorist hideouts in Northwest Nigeria. In a post on his Facebook page, he warned that any foreign military intervention, particularly by the United States, would exacerbate insecurity rather than remedy it. The cleric asked the government to instead seek military assistance from countries he termed more “neutral” like China, Turkey and Pakistan. “Nigeria should halt all military cooperation with the USA immediately because of its imperial tendencies worldwide and seek the help of those neutral countries mentioned.” He played what could be construed as a subtle blackmail card, saying: “Nigerians are too educated to be played with. This is going to be a 2027 campaign discourse.”
While acknowledging that fighting terrorism is legitimate, Gumi believes that such efforts must not be outsourced to foreign powers that have ulterior motives. “The US involvement in Nigeria will attract the real anti-US forces, making our land a theatre of war. As a principle, no nation should allow its land to be a theatre of war, and no nation should allow its neighbours to be their enemies,” he argued.
Gumi is always butting into national conversation to advocate for terrorists whenever they are being dealt a heavy hand. He should spare Nigerians the irritation of his advocacy and join the terrorists to be treated as one of them if he’s sufficiently passionate. Enough of this terrorism apology!
