Femi Adesina & Fani-Kayode Call Sheikh Ahmad Gumi a Bandit-Lover; He Responds

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has lambasted Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, for his unchecked sympathy for Fulani herders and Islamic insurgents known as Boko Haram. Adesina referred to Gumi as a “bandit-lover” who is unapologetic with his support for terrorists and his defense for them as their mouthpiece.

Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, also chided Gumi as an “unrepentant and unapologetic love of bandits” who serve as the “chief spokesman for the foreign Fulani terrorists that come into our country…to kidnap, torture and slaughter our men, women, and children.”

Fani-Kayode said it is unthinkable that an Islamic cleric would campaign that the federal government grant amnesty to terrorists and also pay them huge ransoms to release kidnapped victims. He lent his voice to that of Adesina in condemning Gumi for campaigning for the terrorists and justifying their unwholesome activities across the North-East of Nigeria.

In his reaction, Gumi said he is not a bandit lover but a lover of his country and his people. He blamed the government for letting the Boko Haram and the ISWAP terrorists to get out of hand instead of negotiating with them. He also blamed the government for frustrating his peace efforts at reigning in the bandits, saying the government prefers artillery power to peace negotiations.

“I am a qualified medical doctor who knows what it takes to precisely excise a brain tumour without destroying the delicate surrounding brain tissues,” Gumi boasted. “I was a commissioned military officer who knows what the military is for and what is the capability of our military. I am an intellectual with a Ph.D from abroad. I am an Islamic scholar who knows the immorality of killing innocent lives. So, silence for me in this ocean of oblivion is not an option.”

Gumi reasoned that since the federal government granted amnesty to Niger Delta militants under the Musa Yaradua administration and also established a Niger Delta Ministry, the government can also do the same for Boko Haram terrorists. He said the government should grant amnesty, pay reparation, rehabilitate the terrorists, and also establish a Federal Ministry of Nomadic Affairs for the insurgents.

“Some said we have tried amnesty but it didn’t work,” he reasoned. “You didn’t try amnesty but tried amnesia. Amnesty without rehabilitation, reconciliation, and reparation is no amnesty. Ask the former Niger Delta Militants who killed security men in the past what an amnesty is. What stops us from having a Federal Ministry of Nomadic Affairs where their grievances and complaints will be addressed?”