By Akinwale Kasali
Self appointed Bandits-negotiator with the Federal and State Governments, Sheikh Ahmed Gumi has told the President Muhammadu Buhari Government to grant amnesty to Bandits, just the way Niger Delta Militants were granted amnesty during the administration of late President Umaru Yar’Adua.
The Kaduna-based Islamic Cleric reiterated the need for the Federal Government to give amnesty to Bandits, saying that bandits will never cease to exist in Nigeria unless granted amnesty like the Niger Delta militants.
Gumi stated this in a Facebook epistle titled: ‘Zamfara: The Flaring Of Crisis,’ warning that any military action aimed at the armed herders would worsen the insecurity situation rather than solve it.
Calling to mind the situation with the Taliban in Afghanistan, Gumi insisted that no military, particularly of a poor economy like Nigeria, can win a guerrilla warfare.
“By 2015, banditry has replaced cattle rearing that is becoming nearly impossible. Drugs were introduced into the herdsmen that are known to be illiterates or semi-illiterates.
“Just as we had the Niger Delta conflict resolved with an amnesty which comes with reconciliation, reparation, and rehabilitation packages, so will the herdsmen crisis be resolved. In fact, there is a need for a Marshal plan to educate the nomadic pastoralist so that no citizen is left behind.
“No military, especially of a poor economy, can win guerrilla warfare. The recent victory of the Taliban in Afghanistan is a factual warning for those that contemplate.”
Gumi who has been called out for his affinity with bandits, recently called on the Nigerian Government to grant bandits blanket Amnesty.
