Sheikh Gumi: Why Herdsmen Can’t Leave Banditry

Controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has claimed that herdsmen would not have a source of financing their war machine if they leave banditry.

During an interview on AIT, Gumi was said to have made the statement while speaking on ‘Ending Insecurity; Amnesty and Negotiation with Bandits’.

Gumi said the herdsmen have passed through a lot of hardship, nothing the government sits down to look into their plight and modernise their lives.

Gumi said, lamenting that no government has spent anything on herdsmen, “Not one kobo of our Nigerian budget goes to them”.

The Islamic cleric said that bandits are not living a luxurious life, saying they sometimes drink from the stream.

“If they leave banditry, they won’t have a source of financing for their war machine,” he added.

“We are pressured to fight the government. The government that has helicopters is bombing us. So take the pressure off, the money’s there.

Meanwhile, Gumi has cautioned against the involvement of the United States (US) in Nigeria’s fight against terrorism, saying such a move could worsen the country’s security crisis rather than solve it.

Gumi, in a Facebook post on Monday, stated that Nigeria must be careful not to compromise its sovereignty in the name of seeking foreign assistance to tackle banditry, Boko Haram insurgency and other forms of insecurity.

He said Nigeria’s sovereignty was “a red line,” while the country’s military had the capacity to deal with the security challenges if its operations were guided by fairness, transparency and proper rules of engagement.

The cleric argued that foreign military involvement, especially by the United States, could turn Nigeria into a new battleground for international terror networks.

He cautioned that such intervention could draw foreign extremist groups into the country and expose Nigerians to a wider scale of violence.