Popular Islamic cleric Sheikh Gumi has described the abduction of schoolchildren as a “lesser evil” compared to killing soldiers, adding that Nigeria must negotiate with bandits to prevent greater bloodshed.
In an interview with the BBC published on Tuesday, Gumi stated that although kidnapping minors is “evil,” it is nevertheless less serious than murder, especially when the abducted children are subsequently freed safely.
“Saying that kidnapping children is a lesser evil than killing your soldiers, definitely is lesser. Killing is worse than, but they are all evil. It’s just a lesser evil. Not all evils are of the same power.”
Sheikh Gumi pointed to previous incidents, including the mass abduction in Kebbi State, arguing that the victims were freed without fatalities.
“So it’s a lesser evil than, like, what happened in Kebbi. They abducted children, and they were released. They didn’t kill them.”
The comments coincide with the kidnapping of around 315 individuals in Niger State, including 12 teachers and over 300 children.
The Federal Government declared the release of 100 students on December 7, and a previous source verified that 50 more students had escaped a few days after the kidnapping.
“It’s an evil, and we pray that they escape”, Gumi responded briefly when asked what he would say to their parents.
Sheikh Gumi further defended his long-held point that negotiating with bandits is unavoidable, describing engagement with bandits and other non-state actors as a practical strategy to secure peace and save lives, and noting that “everybody negotiates with bandits.”
“That word [‘we don’t negotiate’], I don’t know where they got it from. It’s not in the Bible. It’s not in the Quran.
“In fact, it’s not even in practice. Everybody’s negotiating with outlaws, non-state actors, everybody. So who got it, and where did they get that knowledge from? We negotiate for peace and our strategic interests. If negotiation will bring stoppage to bloodshed, we will do it.”
The cleric warned that his past engagements with bandits were not carried out secretly or independently.
“I go there with the authorities. I don’t go there alone. And I go there with the press,” he said.
Sheikh Gumi disclosed that his most recent firsthand encounters with bandit groups were in 2021. He claimed that despite his tireless efforts to unite disparate factions, the federal government at the time “was not keen” on the endeavor.
He said that he fully stopped communicating with the groups after they were formally classified as terrorists.
The former army captain made the case that Nigeria’s military cannot handle the responsibility on its own when discussing the broader security issue.
Additionally, Gumi insisted that the majority of bandits are Fulani herdsmen rather than urban Fulani, calling for a clear separation between the two. He explained that their battle was based on cattle raising and survival.
Join Our Social Media Channels:
WhatsApp: NaijaEyes
Facebook: NaijaEyes
Twitter: NaijaEyes
Instagram: NaijaEyes
TikTok: NaijaEyes
