Controversial Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has questioned the criticism surrounding dialogue with bandits and Boko Haram, arguing that previous Nigerian leaders engaged armed groups through dialogue to promote peace and end violence.
He questioned why government officials who engaged Niger Delta militants were not criticised, while Boko Haram and Bandits faces condemnation.
In a post shared on Facebook page, Gumi referenced former President Goodluck Jonathan’s engagement with Niger Delta militants in the creeks and said former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo also participated in efforts aimed at addressing militancy in the region.
“The former President Jonathan visited Delta militants in creeks, so also the former Vice President Osinbajo. They all came up with a program to tame them without fools castigating them?”, Gumi said.
According to him, those initiatives were designed to persuade the militants to lay down their arms and embrace peace.
Gumi questioned why similar dialogue with Boko Haram and armed bandits is often condemned, asking: “Who is going to visit BH and Bandits to tame them without fools castigating them?”
For years, Gumi has Advocated dialogue as a strategy for ending violence in Nigeria’s North-East and North-West, where armed banditry and insurgency have claimed thousands of lives and displaced many communities.
The cleric has personally visited bandit camps in Zamfara and other states, saying the engagements were aimed at understanding the grievances of the armed groups and encouraging peaceful resolution.
He has consistently argued that negotiation, rather than military force alone, proved effective in ending militancy in the Niger Delta and should be considered as part of efforts to address insecurity in the North.
However, his approach has remained controversial. While some Nigerians have accused him of legitimising criminal groups responsible for kidnappings, killings and cattle rustling, others have creditded his interventions with facilitating the release of abductors victims and opening channels for dialogue .
His remarks have reignited debate over whether negotiations should form part of Nigeria’s strategy for addressing the country’s persistence security challenges.
-9News Nigeria.
