{"id":37507,"date":"2021-02-20T13:51:40","date_gmt":"2021-02-20T13:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?p=37507"},"modified":"2021-02-20T11:44:58","modified_gmt":"2021-02-20T11:44:58","slug":"nigerians-question-sheikh-gumis-relationship-with-bandits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerians-question-sheikh-gumis-relationship-with-bandits","title":{"rendered":"Nigerians question Sheikh Gumi\u2019s relationship with bandits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Nigeria<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>The renewed troubleshooting of renowned Kaduna-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahnad Gumi, has continued to cause controversies among Nigerians, especially on the social media platform, Twitter.<\/p>\n

Nigerians were first piqued when reports and images surfaced online of the meeting Gumi had with two set of bandits in forests in Zamfara State.<\/p>\n

In the images that accompanied the reports, the Islamic cleric was seen with heavily armed bandits, who gleefully told him that they took up arms because of the certain injustices done to them by the Nigerian state.<\/p>\n

The images took many aback, as they wondered how a band of bandits can boldly display their criminality and why a respected cleric like Gumi would openly associate with them.<\/p>\n

But the Senior Pastor of Awaiting The Second Coming of Christ Ministry, Adewale Giwa, has said that Sheikh Ahmad Gumi is playing the script of President Muhammadu Buhari on the issue of banditry. \u201dGumi is only playing the script of president Muhammadu Buhari and other Fulani politicians. By now, Gumi ought to have been arrested, interrogated and jailed for knowing where the criminal Fulani herdsmen live.<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t I say president Bubari has created jobs for his fulani kinsmen? Are they Nigerians and why should the federal government compensate criminals who rape, kidnap and kill innocent Nigerians?<\/p>\n

\u201cI doubt the existence of Nigeria if this could be happening in the presence of security operatives. President Buhari cannot intimidate or frighten me,\u201d the pastor said.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Oby Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education has accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government of enabling kidnapping in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

Ezekwesili while lamenting the strange incestuous relationship that now exists between the government and bandits, claimed that the \u201dfriendship has enabled the industry of abduction to flourish in Nigeria on basic market principles of demand and supply.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even more disgusting to many Nigerians, who have expressed their feelings online, is the continued advocacy the Sheikh has mounted since his first meeting with the bandits in Zamfara forests.<\/p>\n

The cleric, in several interviews, had called on the Federal Government to grant the bandits amnesty, insisting that the bandits are victims of injustices brought about by the Nigerian state. According to him, the armed bandits are responding to the killings of their people by the military and rustling of their cattle by rustlers, without protection from the government.<\/p>\n

The anger and discontent expressed by Nigerians online however took a new dimension reports and images appeared of the Sheikh Gumi\u2019s meeting with bandits the alleged abductors of students and staff of Government Science College (GSC), Kagara, Niger State, in apparent negotiation for the release of the abductees.<\/p>\n

As expected, Nigerians took to social media, especially Twitter to vent their anger and disapproval of what they termed as his romance with criminals, while others hailed him for volunteering to negotiate and secure the release of the victims.<\/p>\n

Below are some of the reactions of Twitter:<\/p>\n

@sadiqTade wrote: \u201cSheikh Gumi seems to know more about bandits (terrorists) in the northern states judging with his recent engagements with these people. I don\u2019t know if he is doing the right thing or not but I feel something isn\u2019t reasonable about the whole thing. More like encouraging Terrorism.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a regular day, Buhar-led administration has done so much to give confidence to terrorists. Although these terrorists with sophisticated weapons are being paraded as Bandits in the media maybe for politics. However, the fact remains Buhari admin has emboldened these criminals.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t keep negotiating with this dangerous set and keep expecting positive change or something related. Rewarding, negotiating or dialoguing with criminals would only encourage potential criminals to dive into full criminality because they are aware of the juicy rewards.\u201d<\/p>\n

@Dan99st wrote: \u201cThey kidnap and get compensated. They are just using the masses to finance their agenda. Later on, they get pardoned because they\u2019re \u201creformed\u201d. All of this is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

@Aitemej1 wrote: \u201cFrom the presidency to the governors to the legislators to the sheiks\/other Islamic scholars, to the traditional rulers, to the religious leaders and many elites in the north nothing is hidden in all these dramas.<\/p>\n

In fact, many are key actors and are just trying to fool Nigerians\u201d<\/p>\n

@Matru wrote: \u201cNa middleman business Sheik dey do. Him dey collect him share after every transaction\u201d<\/p>\n

@NNWaebiem said: \u201cIf they are not encouraged to keep kidnapping people, how would they implement the much needed Northern Amnesty? Remember, Federal Character is enshrined in our constitution. I said it and nothing will happen!\u201d<\/p>\n

@emekakickoff said: \u201cAm so surprised. When I listened to his call in a telephone conversation guest @RaypowerNetwork I was hummmmm, so bold with his talk. Something seems not right at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

@Matrumery wrote: \u201cHe wants to be chopping middleman money when the government and bandit negotiate.. it\u2019s business for him. He collects his share as mediator\u201d<\/p>\n

@the_olanrewaju said: \u201cBalance me quick, how did he locate the bandits? What intelligence does he have that the security agencies don\u2019t? Questions begging for answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

@Kingjoey said: The Gumi\u2019s style will breed more insurgents. There is nothing better about it. Am beginning to suspect that Boko Haram, Gumi\u2019s \u2018Children\u2019 are still the bandits. Kwatiniu, God will judge leaders of Boko Haram masquerading like Clerics of God<\/p>\n

Despite the misgivings expressed by some Nigerians, others are of the view that the respected cleric is doing a great job by interfacing with the bandits.<\/p>\n

The grandson of second Republic President, Bello Shagari, tweeting with the handle @belshagy wrote: \u201cInstead of being seen as a brave cleric facing these criminals face to face, Sheikh Gumi is seen by those who misunderstood as either the northern interest, government agent and sometimes even as criminal himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is just a volunteer working on his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes you can compare Sunday Igoho with Sheikh Gumi in the sense that they are intervening.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, while Sheikh is calling for peace, Sunday is calling for war.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sheikh is not inciting anyone unlike Sunday openly does.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. The renewed troubleshooting of renowned Kaduna-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahnad Gumi, has continued to cause controversies among Nigerians, especially on the social media platform, Twitter. Nigerians were first piqued when reports and images surfaced online of the meeting Gumi had with two set of bandits in forests in Zamfara State. In the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":37506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,28,14,26],"tags":[1570,2140,254,2937],"class_list":["post-37507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-nigeria-2","tag-nigeria","tag-sheikh-gumi"],"yoast_head":"\nNigerians question Sheikh Gumi\u2019s relationship with bandits - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The renewed troubleshooting of renowned Kaduna-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahnad Gumi, has continued to cause controve ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerians-question-sheikh-gumis-relationship-with-bandits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nigerians question Sheikh Gumi\u2019s relationship with bandits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The renewed troubleshooting of renowned Kaduna-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahnad Gumi, has continued to cause controve ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerians-question-sheikh-gumis-relationship-with-bandits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-20T13:51:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/img-6030f61322349.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerians-question-sheikh-gumis-relationship-with-bandits#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerians-question-sheikh-gumis-relationship-with-bandits\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Nigerians question Sheikh Gumi\u2019s relationship with bandits\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-20T13:51:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerians-question-sheikh-gumis-relationship-with-bandits\"},\"wordCount\":1010,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerians-question-sheikh-gumis-relationship-with-bandits#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/img-6030f61322349.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Nigeria\",\"Nigeria\",\"Sheikh Gumi\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"Policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerians-question-sheikh-gumis-relationship-with-bandits#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerians-question-sheikh-gumis-relationship-with-bandits\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerians-question-sheikh-gumis-relationship-with-bandits\",\"name\":\"Nigerians question Sheikh Gumi\u2019s relationship with bandits - 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