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Sheik Abubakar Ahmad Gumi has been favourably talking about bandits, portraying them as freedom fighters. In a recent comment, Gumi was reported to have urged Nigerians to vote for leaders who will not fight bandits if elected into office. In a sermon, he reportedly said: “Don’t vote for those who will fight bandits. The fighters (bandits) are our people. So, please vote for those who, after attaining power, will call and negotiate with our people (bandits) so as to give them what they want for peace to reign.” He said if people listened to the bandits, they would become amenable to abandoning their violent ways.
Earlier, Gumi had visited these terrorists in their forest hideouts in such states as Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto and Zamfara and taken photographs with them. He was quoted to have said he was able to gain the bandits’ confidence because he treated them as human beings and respected them.
Ordinarily, his comments will deserve no attention and should be ignored. But considering his influence in the North and the gullibility of some of our youths, Gumi’s recent actions and comments pose serious threat to the nation’s security.
It is possible that his attempt to deodorise the putrefying act of banditry could sway some youths to join in this evil act. The youths could begin to see being a bandit as an act of valour and patriotism to the North. Ironically, the worst victims of banditry and terrorism are the same northerners Gumi appears to be fighting for.
In any case, how can any leader, after seeing the havoc bandits and terrorists have wreaked, especially in the same North, speak about them in glowing terms? In March 2022, these dregs of the society attacked Abuja to Kaduna train. They killed scores of people, wounded many, and took many others hostage. It was only recently that these hostages were released after payment of heavy ransom.
Besides, many communities in Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto, Borno states, have not known peace for a long time now. Thousands of people have been killed, millions displaced and have been living in Internally Displaced People’s camp for some years.
These days, many farmers can no longer go to their farms because of the activities of bandits. Some have had to pay taxes and levies to the bandits and terrorists so that they will be able to live in their communities. This is partly why there is food scarcity with its attendant high prices in Nigeria. Investment has also been affected.
Some children have had their schooling scuttled because of the activities of bandits and terrorists. Students of Government Science School, Kagara in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State; Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, in Katsina State; and Government Girls Secondary School Jangebe in Zamfara State will never subscribe to the current praising of the terrorists by Gumi. Some students from these schools were kidnapped and kept in captivity for some days in the forest. Some of them were even killed. This is why Nigeria has remained the third most terrorised country in the world.
It was good that the Federal High Court in Abuja, last year, declared the bandits as terrorists. The Federal Government had asked the court to declare them as terrorists because they had masterminded several killings, kidnappings, rape, mass abduction of schoolchildren and related acts of criminality in different parts of the country.
Anarchy and chaos rule where there is no rule of law. That is why every sane society has a set of laws called constitution. Whoever goes against such laws is punished according to the weight of his offence. No society harbours criminals. Else, that society becomes lawless.
It is time to call Gumi to order. He cannot love the North more than the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, who has condemned banditry and terrorism at different times. In 2021, for instance, it was the Sultan who condemned and alerted the country to how bandits had taken over many parts of the North.
In 2021, Gumi warned President Muhammadu Buhari not to declare bandits as terrorists saying doing so would come with a big price. He said the bandits wanted schools, hospitals, and some other amenities. This ran contrary to the position of some northern leaders, like Governors Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna and Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State, who wanted the Federal Government to declare the bandits as terrorists. El-Rufai had said the action would enable the military to go all out against the terrorists. He added that bandits deserved death. “Nobody living in the forest is innocent, and we must kill them all,” he said last year. This is how it should be. Therefore, we urge Nigerian voters, especially those in the North, to disregard Gumi’s comments and vote for a credible candidate in the 2023 general election.
