Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, has reiterated his stand that bandits be given amnesty so they can lay down their arms.
Gumi said this on Wednesday at a virtual event organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies on insecurity in Nigeria.
The cleric said he was not justifying banditry, but that the herders felt ignored, which resulted in an ethnic war between them and villagers.
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His words: “If they are not shown that they’ll be safe when reintegrated into society, they will not give up their arms.
“Looking at their educational status, they don’t have any official or unofficial education.
“How can a nation which is serious about security leave a chunk of its society so uneducated; leave it to arms and drugs?
“I don’t think that society is serious. How can we disperse them, rehabilitate them? They are holding arms to protect themselves.
“If you don’t show them they’re safe in the larger society, there’s no way they can leave their weapon. And that’s why we asked for amnesty for them just like we had in the Niger Delta.
“I’m not justifying their kidnapping; what they do is a crime. But their kidnapping is to get more money to buy more weapons so that they can protect themselves.”
Besides Gumi, senators and members of the House of Representatives from Zamfara State called on President Muhammadu Buhari to grant amnesty to repentant armed bandits from the North West.
However, reactions to the amnesty call have been faulted by,PANDEF,Afenifere,Ohanaeze, Middle-Belt with Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State flaying Sheikh Ahmad Gumi over his romance with bandits.
Reviewed by Jude
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March 24, 2021
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