Sheikh Gumi asks why no Tinubu govt official has visited Boko Haram, Bandits for peace talks ‘without fools castigating them’

Controversial Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has challenged the Tinubu administration to engage Boko Haram insurgents and bandits through dialogue, drawing a direct comparison with former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s creek visits to Niger Delta militants that helped lay the groundwork for the amnesty programme.

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has a question for Abuja — and it comes with a historical precedent.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, the controversial Islamic cleric questioned why no government official has attempted direct dialogue with Boko Haram insurgents and bandits in northern Nigeria, pointing to the approach taken by former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in engaging Niger Delta militants as a model worth replicating.

“The former President Jonathan visited delta militants in the creeks, so also the former vice president Osinbajo. They all came up with a program to tame the militants,” Gumi wrote. “Who is going to visit BH and Bandits to tame them without fools castigating them?”

As reported by Sahara Reporters, the cleric’s remarks represent a continuation of his long-standing advocacy for negotiation over military action alone as a path to ending violent insecurity in Nigeria’s North-West and North-East.

Gumi has over the years personally visited bandit camps in states including Zamfara, describing the engagements as efforts to understand grievances and encourage peaceful resolution. His approach has drawn sharp criticism from those who accuse him of legitimising criminal groups responsible for killings and mass kidnappings. Supporters, however, credit some of his interventions with securing the release of abducted victims.

The Niger Delta precedent Gumi cites is well established. The Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme, launched in 2009 under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and continued under Jonathan, involved the disarmament of thousands of militants in exchange for vocational training, stipends and reintegration support — significantly reducing attacks on oil installations. Jonathan had personally visited the creeks and met former militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, known as Tompolo. Osinbajo made a similar visit to Niger Delta communities in 2017 while serving as acting president, defending the engagement as a response to legitimate grievances.

The Tinubu administration has not publicly responded to Gumi’s latest remarks.