Sheikh Ahmed Gumi has dismissed reports that his brother was kidnapped by bandits.
Reacting via a statement Gumi described the reports as mischievous, misleading and diversionary.
MalamTukur Mamu, the Dan-Iyan Fika and Media Consultant to Gumi, who signed the statement opined: “Our attention was drawn to yet another fake news that the biological brother of Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Abubakar Gumi has been kidnapped by bandits.
“While it is not impossible in today’s Nigeria to even kidnap the Sheikh himself or even those in position of power and authority as we have seen recently, we urged the public to disregard the fake news. The story some sections of the media are deliberately misquoting to give a picture “that the brother of the person supporting the bandits has also been kidnapped” is mischievous, misleading and diversionary.
“It is actually from the content of an interview recently granted to some members of the press where Sheikh Gumi was saying he is surprised that some elements thinks he is unnecessarily supportive of the bandits, telling them that he is equally a victim of their terror as they have kidnapped his own biological brother about three years ago and that the security agents could not do anything which left them with the option of paying ransom before he was released. A driver of his father was also killed by the same bandits.
“For Gumi, all this is not enough reason to say he will not seek for peaceful resolution of the crisis for the purpose of preserving peoples lives and properties especially if we look back at government’s failure to address issues that will help in bringing last solution. Military power alone or declaring the bandits as terrorists cannot end banditry and killings in Nigeria.”
“May Allah forbid, in today’s Nigeria where government has failed to address the root cause of the armed Fulani banditry and the security imbroglio particularly in the North West and to explore mediation like the Americans finally adopted after over two decades of failed military offensive in Afghanistan, people or the press should not be surprised if Gumi himself is abducted not to talk of his brother.”
“But the said story as we mentioned is not true and we pray it will never happen not only to Gumi’s brother but innocent Nigerians as a whole.”
Reports had gone viral on Sunday of Sheikh Ahmad Gumi revealing the kidnap of his senior brother by bandits, saying they demanded ransom to regain his freedom.
Gummi, they said, revealed this in an interview with some journalists in Gusau, saying his senior brother was kidnapped because he made a case for bandits and for visiting them in their forest conclaves.
He, however, solicited the release of his brother, saying he had also been a victim of the bandits on several occasions.
“Also in our mosque, we have paid a ransom. Even now, somebody is asking me to assist him to pay the ransom. Our family driver who happens to be our relative, his son, a private soldier, was killed by bandits. So now I can support such people?” Gumi said.
However, the cleric said his efforts with bandits have been sabotaged recently, stressing that he has quit meeting with bandits because it will be dangerous for him to continue to engage with them.
The Islamic scholar blamed those calling for his arrest as those behind the banditry in the northern zone of the country, stressing that it is a constitutional right for someone to express his views.
The cleric said his efforts are to prevent banditry in his own way stating that he has also been a victim of banditry.
“They are clowns, they don’t know anything about the Nigerian society, they don’t know about the Nigerian constitution and liberty. It is a constitutional right for someone to express his views, so long you are not calling for violence or to harm anybody.
“These people calling for my arrest, I don’t see them different from the bandits. To say that I am supporting or sponsoring bandits is malicious. I am just trying to cure them in my own way. I am trying to prevent it my own way and I have seen how my little efforts have helped”
Recall, Gumi had made a U-turn, by dissociating himself from the bandits.
He said he no longer had anything to do with bandits, following their declaration as terrorists by the court.
On November 25, a Federal High Court in Abuja had declared the activities of all bandit groups in the country as acts of terrorism.
Gumi is known for demanding amnesty for bandits who are said to have killed thousands and abducted many, including schoolchildren.
Speaking in an interview with online newspaper, Premium Times, on Wednesday, the cleric said he would no longer mediate for bandits.
He said: “Since the federal government has declared them terrorists, I don’t have anything to do with them anymore.
“I will not like to expose myself to danger again and to put a spotlight on myself unnecessarily. I have tried all I could do to admonish the nation on the best way to do it, but it seems my advice has fallen on deaf ears.
“I have endangered my life for peace by going to the forest and engaging the bandits. Among them are rock bandits, dangerous, armed, ready to fire.
“It is dangerous, still we risked our lives to see that we bring peace to this nation. Because somebody has to take that risk and we took it and thanked God we came out safely and knowledgeable, knowing how to come about this issue.
“Maybe in the future when the political situation changes for the better, we can do it again so that there will be peace, harmony and tranquility in the country.”
