By Akinwale Kasali
A Yoruba Group, Májékóbájé Ilé-Yorùbá, has urged the United States of America, USA, to investigate and interrogate Sheikh Ahmad Gumi Over the activities and hideouts of bandits and terrorists in the North East.
The Sociocultural Organization said it was necessary for the US to compel the Kaduna-based Cleric to lead Security Forces to the hideouts of armed Fulani Militias who have, for years, unleashed terror across Nigeria.
The Group, in a statement released on Sunday by the Union Convener, Olusola Badero, through its Home Director, Princess Balogun, described Nigeria as “a near–banana republic,” where Government Officials in the Northern Region routinely pose for photographs with terrorists in broad daylight while negotiating with people who have killed, kidnapped, ra×ed, and maimed innocent citizens.
It added that Gumi’s repeated public defence of terrorists and self-proclaimed role as a mediator proves he has intimate knowledge of where the armed groups operate.
The Group, in the statement, insisted that if Gumi could escort journalists and government officials into remote forest enclaves for “peace missions,” then he should be compelled to help dismantle the very networks he claims to negotiate with.
It further stressed that Sheikh Gumi must be held to account for repeatedly defending armed bandit groups simply because they share ethnic ties.
According to the statement, Gumi’s continued justification of terrorist actions has emboldened criminal networks that have devastated rural communities across the country.
The group noted that while Gumi claims to have facilitated the surrender of over 600 bandits, he has also consistently dismissed calls for his arrest as intolerant and politically driven. “His own words confirm his closeness to these killers,” the group said.
Condemning the spate of insecurity in the country, the Ìgbìnmó Májékóbájé Ilé-Yorùbá said that terrorists have turned vast regions into killing fields with little resistance from government authorities.
“Every day, Nigerians are seen on social media with guns pointed at their heads, begging for ransom.
“Many are murdered even after ransom is paid. The same Fulani militias have destroyed farmlands, taken over ancestral homes, raped women, burnt villages, invaded churches and mosques, and kidnapped worshippers.”
It dismissed Gumi’s argument that terrorists are reacting to a lack of social amenities.
“There is no state in Nigeria without communities lacking water, roads, electricity, or hospitals.
“But no other ethnic group has turned mass murder, kidnapping, and land occupation into an industry.”
The organisation accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of turning a blind eye to the worsening crisis while terrorists enjoy celebrity treatment in the North.
“President Tinubu continues to deny the mass killings and atrocities being committed,” the union said.
“He goes on television claiming there is no genocide, while entire communities are wiped out. The government has failed to arrest any of the major commanders of these militias. This silence is complicity.”
It called on the U.S. President to pressurise President Tinubu to order Gumi’s arrest and prosecution for allegedly shielding terrorists, knowing their hideouts, and being aware of their financiers and weapons suppliers.
It also added that if the Nigerian government continues negotiating with terrorists instead of dismantling their networks, the international community must take notice.
“If sending U.S. troops and fighter jets will end these mass killings—since the Nigerian government has failed—then the U.S. should step in.
“Nigeria needs help, because our government is too weak or unwilling to confront those destroying the nation”, the statement reads.
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