Nigeria Should Negotiate With Terrorists, Bandits And Stop Wasting Billions Of Naira On Jets, Guns – Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Gumi

 

Aprominent Kaduna-based Islamic cleric and former military officer, Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi has told the Nigerian Government to embrace the idea of negotiation with the bandits and other non-state actors ravaging the country.

During an interview with Trust TV, the Islamic cleric stated that the government is wrong to continue spending billions of naira to combat banditry and terrorism.

According to him, the only way to secure security is for the government to engage in an open discussion with the terrorists.

He added that the root of security problems in the country could linked to the age-long farmer-herder crisis across the North and alleged that this could only be solved through negotiation and not war.

 Gumi also berated the Nigerian military over the recent mistaken bombardment of Tudun Biri residents in Kaduna State, adding that the incident is an indication for the government to strengthen the capacity of the police force to stop the military from interfering in the country’s internal security.

“This is not the first time such is happening. The military should fight the military. Tank by tank. Jet by jet. The military should be out of fighting insecurity. We are not fighting Cameroon or Togo,” the cleric was quoted by Daily Trust as saying.

 He continued: “And the jet fighters should not be used on citizens. I cannot imagine any American president, no matter how instructive, would use F16 to bombard Americans. Impossible. He would go down the next day.

“What we need are very good policies. Then stronger policing. That’s where our money should go. All those people should be involved in community policing.

“In every society you have very good people and they are the majority. Nigerians are very humble people; very resilient who can sustain a lot of hardship. So I don’t see why good governance and good policing should be a big deal.

“All the money we spend on buying all these Second World War aeroplanes and artillery and jets to fight insurgency is an archaic way of dealing with this issue. And billions of naira are spent on that.

“Negotiate with these people. Build for them schools and hospitals. Let them have future. Build for them markets. Even the people we call bandits, what they sometimes complain is that they no longer have cattle markets because whenever they establish market, it gets destroyed.

“So the military should be out of this picture completely. We are not fighting a foreign country. We should develop our internal security.”

Bandits Kill Former Zamfara APC Governorship Aspirant

Sagir Hamidu, former governorship aspirant have been killed by unknown gunmen suspected to be bandit.

Late Sagir Hamidu was a former governorship aspirant in the 2019 election in Zamfara State.

Hamidu was killed on Sunday along Abuja-Kaduna expressway.

The late politician had vied for governorship on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

He was shot dead by the attackers when they opened fire on travellers near Rijana along the busy expressway around 4 pm.

Security sources who confirmed his death said “he was among those hit by the kidnappers bullets”.

A survivor who spoke on condition of anonymity said the incident occurred around the Rijana area.

“The kidnappers took advantage of the damage on the road, which forced on and off-coming motorists to move slowly on a single lane,” he said.

Use Billions Of Naira You’re Spending On Ammunition To Build Schools For Bandits – Sheirkh Gumi Tells Buhari

 

Self-mediator for bandits, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, says he has spoken to many bandits and they have agreed to lay down their weapons and embrace education.

The Kaduna State-based controversial Islamic cleric, stated this while speaking to journalists during an inspection visit to the Sheikh Uthman Bin Fodio Centre at Kagarko Grazing Reserve Kohoto Village, donated by Sultan Bello Mosque Foundation on Monday.

The Islamic scholar who has been at the forefront of advocating negotiations for the bandits said the government should spend billions on building schools for the gunmen instead of spending it on security hardware.

He also has refuted allegations credited to him that declaring bandits as terrorists would end Nigeria, saying he was quoted out of context.

The cleric explained that ninety-nine percent of herdsmen are not involved in banditry and if the state now says all herdsmen are terrorists; Nigeria will have problems all over.

Speaking on the school, he said the centre contains six classrooms, which would be engaged for 24 hours daily.

“The herdsmen take cattle for grazing in the morning, come back and study in the evening. Before then, we would run primary and secondary schools at intervals.

“We have a hospital also at the centre as well as an economic booster on showing them how to feed their animals.

“If we can replicate this everywhere, Nigeria will be in peace,” he submitted,” he said

In his remarks, the Fulani Chief of the community, Ardo Ahmed Tahiru said they are excited about the project.

Also speaking, Imam Tafa Dahiru noted that the project has united the community and they are all full of joy.

Similarly, a Christian cleric in the community, Luka Mai Ungwar commended Sheikh Gumi for the gesture, saying that he is delighted that their children don’t need to travel far before going to school.

Federal Government Accuse Boko Haram, Bandits, ISWAP, IPOB, Yoruba Nation Agitators For Food Scarcity

Federal government has blamed Boko Haram, ISWAP, bandits, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Yoruba Nation agitators for increasing food scarcity across Nigeria.

Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, says the prevalence of these groups has adversely affected food security thereby posing a new dimension of threats to the country.

“Regrettably, the prevalence of these threats has continued to endanger not only national security and economic growth but also food security.

“In particular, food security has been adversely affected with the attendant rise in the prices of foodstuff across the country which portends a new dimension of threat,” he said.

Mr Magashi said this at the opening of a retreat for Defence Advisers/Attaches Conference, organised by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) on Monday in Abuja.

He said the attacks by Boko Haram and ISWAP in the North-East and banditry and herder/militia in the North-West and Central posed serious threats to Nigeria.

According to him, states in the South-South region are plagued with illegal oil bunkering, piracy and militancy while the South-East is challenged with secessionist activities of IPOB.

He added that the South-West region is equally faced with secessionist inclination driven by ethnic agitators as well as occasional tension between herders and farmers.

Mr Magashi called for collaboration between the security agencies to “come up with innovative ways of identifying and confronting” these challenges.

The minister said this was necessary in order to “create an enabling atmosphere for economic activities to thrive and to attract Foreign Direct Investment.”

Soldiers Are Taking Hard Drugs To Cope With Bandits, Boko Haram – Nigerian Army

General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division, Maj.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja has disclosed that soldiers of the Nigerian Army are taking hard drugs to cope with the protracted Boko Haram insurgency and violent rampage of bandits

The GOC, stated that the army was winning the fight against the proliferation of hard drugs in barracks and theatres.

Mr Lagbaja, represented by the Chief of Staff of the Division, Brig.-Gen. Greg Omoregbe, disclosed this at the inauguration of a three-day capacity-building seminar on evidence-based drug prevention, treatment, and control.

“As you are all aware, military mobilisation, deployment and combat are often associated with severe mental and psychological stress for both the serving personnel and family members,” Mr Lagbaja explained. “Drug abuse has become increasingly recognised as a major coping mechanism, which has contributed to untoward behaviours amongst personnel and family members.”

“The resultant effect of this rising trend is the negative impact on troops’ general health, discipline, unit cohesion, family function, and general unit administration. Drug abuse also contributes, in no small measure, to various degrees of psychological incapacitation among affected individuals,” he added. “Psychological incapacitation among troops and family dysfunction negatively affects fighting capacity and unit operational effectiveness and efficiency.”

The seminar, organised by the division, in collaboration with Bensther Development Foundation, and facilitated by the 82 Division Medical Services and Hospital, was meant for non-medical commanders, principal staff officers, commanding officers, adjutants, administrative officers, and decision-makers.

“The choice of this audience is deliberate because of the pride of place you all occupy in the chain of command in the military as decision-makers,” the general further noted. “You were all deliberately chosen to attend this seminar because the troops and families in the barracks/cantonments look up to you for guidance and direction in their daily lives.”

The GOC charged officers attending the seminar to approach it with all seriousness and share experiences while relating to their troops and barracks and cantonments members so that drug abuse would be totally eliminated in the nearest future.

Mr Lagbaja commended the Bensther Development Foundation for organising the seminar.

Speaking, the foundation’s executive director, Nonso Maduka, said, “Our work is made easier since the army has already adopted the international best practice of treating and caring for its personnel with drug abuse ailment for three months free-of-charge and ensuring that such fellow is fully rehabilitated and re-integrated

Even With The Way Bandits Are Killing Northerners, They Are Happy Buhari Is In Power – Former Governor, Sule Lamido

 

Former  Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa says northerners are happy with the APC regime despite wanton violence ravaging the North because President Muhammadu Buhari is one of their own.

“We see Nigeria as at my own time, ‘our own son’, ‘our own tribe and whatever he does’… I mean, people in the North are dying every day. We are not safe or secure,” Mr Lamido said in an interview with Channels TV on Sunday night.

“You can’t even travel from Abuja to Kaduna and feel safe, and just because he is our own son, we are happy. When we are dying, we are happy because Buhari is our own son.”

When asked for his views on Boko Haram and bandits ravaging the North-East and North-West respectively, Mr Lamido, who has a pending case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), blamed increased insecurity on political leaders’ insincerity.

“It is this culture of telling lies to citizens during elections. When you raise their hope, by the time you come to government and fail to fulfil their needs, of course, you are going to be in trouble,” the ex-governor explained. “So these are some of the policy consequences of telling lies in campaigns. Leaders are not honest, sincere, and there is nothing called justice.”

Bandits have ravaged the North-West, kidnapping and killing several people, forcing schools to close many weeks.

Mr Buhari’s home state, Katsina, is one of the most ravaged northern parts by bandits and frustrated by the continued kidnapping and killing, Governor Aminu Masari in July called on residents to defend themselves.

Mr Masari advised the state’s residents and other Nigerians to fight bandits with their teeth and not wait for Mr Buhari’s regime to protect them.

“It is important for you to fight your enemy, even with your teeth bite him. Where are the warriors? I don’t understand our people these days. What they should be doing is not what they are doing,” Mr Masari said in the Hausa language.

He added, “You are waiting for brigadier somewhere to come, or soldiers and policemen or even fighting (sic) jet, is it not possible, they will do their work, but we need to join hands together.”

Pay No Attention To Gumi, Go After Bandits In Other State Like Zamfara – Aisha Buhari Tells Nigerian Military

First Lady of Nigeria, Aisha Buhari says security agents must go after bandits in Northern states and kill them.

The First Lady also said her Sunday Instagram post showing the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami, shedding tears during one of his sermons was about fearing God and not man.

Aisha had earlier shared a video showing Pantami crying after his reciter read a verse of the Holy Quran.

“That is the Garden we shall give as their own to those of Our servants who were devout,” read the reciter from Surah Maryam, Verse 63.

In response, Pantami sobbed, “O Allah! Make me one of them. O Allah! Make me one of them!”

Clarifying why she posted the video in another post on Instagram on Monday, the First Lady said in Hausa, “Tafsir na Malam kan tsoron Allah ba tsoron mutum ba! Da aka cire tsoro da son Kai aka shiga Jihar Zamfara, abubuwa sun fara kyau. Sai a dage a shigo sauran wurare da ke bukatan haka. which can be interpreted as”, which can be interpreted as “Malam’s Tafsir was a about fearing God and not man! When fear and selfishness were removed and Zamfara State was entered, things started to go well. We need to move on to other areas that need it.”

Her post is coming amidst heightened offensive by the military in Zamfara state.

Many of the bandits’ leaders and their foot soldiers were said to have been killed since the blockage of communication and restriction of movement in the state.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had last week mandated all telecommunication operators in the country to stop extending services to Zamfara and its environs, effective Friday, September 3, 2021.

This was barely six months after the Nigerian government declared Zamfara State a ‘no-fly zone’ in a renewed effort to fight banditry and other forms of insecurity in the state.

This however countered the stance of a popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, who stated that killing bandits would only worsen the security situation in the country.

Gumi who has been visiting bandits in the forest in an attempt to negotiate a peace deal with them had urged the Nigerian government to create a Ministry of Nomadic Affairs.

The cleric had in a Facebook post last Friday said, “By the way, what you may not hear, is that the bandits over the years have developed escape routes from aerial bombardments. They told us: you can only kill our women and children with your attacks!

“Just yesterday, two contingents of banditry victims came to me that their loved ones were abducted by bandits in Kaduna suburbs – Rigachukun and Keke. An escapee engineer in the later said, when he overheard and understood that they were strangers in the area as they were calling the locals to lead them, that gave him the courage to slip through densely grown maize plantations to escape. The point is that, if Zamfara is on fire for them, definitely it goes without saying that they will migrate to other areas. So, is the whole of Nigeria going to be under lock-up in incommunicado?

“As for the economic impact of the areas now under siege, it’s just a matter of time, you’ll hear them crying out. Already yesterday a man from Tsafe came begging because of economic stagnation, one would have thought that Gusau the capital is closer than Kaduna to beg.

“As for those cynics that have no value to add in the dilemma except vituperation, and abuses, we know that is the substance they are made up of. No qualms whatsoever! you don’t expect fragrance from feces. So, what is the solution?

“Good Intelligence! Good proficient policing, engagement of the local herdsmen in policing, rehabilitation, reconciliation, and reparation of all victims of banditry. The good honest judiciary that protects people’s rights. Money and time well spent on these will surely kill the disease and heal the nation of this delinquency, crimes, and bad governance.”

No More Amnesty For Bandits – Governor Bello Matawalle Lament

Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara state has said that the amnesty offer for bandits have been taken off the table as they rejected it before now.

Matawalle who spoke in Gusau, Zamfara state capital said bandits are now seeking for dialogue following the ongoing offensive carried out by the military in the state.

The Governor appealed to residents to be patient and support new security measures put in place to flush out bandits and their collaborators to restore peace in the state, and also warned politicians against giving any form of support to bandits to perpetuate their evil acts.

Matawalle said;

“My administration will no longer grant amnesty to bandits as they have failed to embrace the peace initiative earlier extended to them.”

Bandits kill 5 in Zamfara

An attack launched by bandits in Kajera and Magazawa villages in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State on Tuesday May 19, left 5 people dead and one villager injured.