Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has cautioned the Federal Government against declaring bandits terrorists, warning that the classification shuts down dialogue and could drive the groups to escalate violence beyond their current levels.
Nigeria’s most controversial peace advocate is at it again. Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, the Kaduna-based Islamic cleric known for his high-risk visits to bandit camps, has fired back at the Federal Government’s decision to classify bandits as terrorists — and he’s not holding back.
In a viral video, Gumi argued that slapping the terrorist label on bandit groups was not just counterproductive but potentially dangerous. He said: “We don’t want to push them into terror beyond what they are doing now because it can get worse. They have shown us their willingness to negotiate, so people that are ready to negotiate, why are you rushing to declare them bandits so that you can use whatever weapons you bought.”
The cleric insists dialogue remains the smarter play, pointing to a track record that he says the government is throwing away. According to Gumi, “Before they used to catch Boko Haram and present them to the authorities in Zamfara, but now they are all terrorists.”
According to Daily Post, the Islamic scholar known for visiting bandits in their hideouts hinted that he and other clergymen can no longer negotiate with the groups following the government’s declaration — effectively signalling that a key backchannel for peace has been shut down.
Gumi’s remarks are bound to stir fresh controversy, particularly as fresh intelligence reports reveal Turji’s fighters conducting weapons training in Sokoto. His critics will ask: at what point does dialogue enable impunity? His supporters will counter: at what point does force alone ever work in Nigeria’s northwest?
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