Breaking: “I’m trying to ‘talk sense’ to these Bandits of school children not take ‘dirty money’ from the parents of the abducted students” – Sheikh Gumi
De Erudite Media, June 22, 2021
It’s no longer news that the abduction of school children of different levels of schooling, including nursery schools have become a prevalent business in the norther part of Nigeria. Recently, gunmen alleged to be Bandits abducted many students and some members of staff from a federal boarding school named Federal Government College, Birnin-Yauri in Kebbi State. The abductions have resulted in the suspension of boarding schools and the deployment of security operatives to schools in some states.
However, the popular and controversial Islamic cleric who is usually in the news lately and known for his obvious apologetic disposition to killer-herdsmen a d bandits has come out to advice the government on how to go about solving insecurity problems in the north and ensuring the safety of students. He advised that government should engage the bandits instead of attacking them, while also claiming that the bandits are victims of cattle rustlers, which are a type of armed Fulani nomads that specialises in stealing of castles from its herders.
Recall that the cleric has gone on several occasions to speak to the bandits in the forests under the protection of the Army, though officially not sent to Government. It’s on record that he do claim to be instrumental to the release of some people previously abducted by the Bandits or Herdsmen.
Speaking on the recent Birnin-Yauri abduction development via an interview, Gumi said aerial bombardments of bandits will only worsen the security situation, arguing that they are also “victims”.
“To secure schools, why not engage the bandits. Engage them; they are not many. You can count them with your fingers. How can you guard schools? It is not possible! In the whole north-west, they may not be more than 100,000 bandits. And that is just a drop in the ocean,” he said.
“That is talking about those with weapons; because not all of them have weapons. Ninety per cent of those who have weapons use them to protect themselves against cattle rustlers.
“They are victims too. Aerial bombardments will only worsen the situation because when you start killing their children, you remember they also have our children.”
De Erudite Media gathered that Gumi while speaking on the abducted Islamiyya students of Niger state, said he is still trying to “talk sense” to the abductors not to collect “dirty money” from the parents of the kidnapped students.
“But we are trying to talk sense to them that these are just innocent schoolchildren. We don’t even have any idea of the condition of the children. We are just saying these are young children trying to study and they did nothing, so why are you trying to take dirty money from their families?
“This (kidnap of Islamic pupils) actually proves to the nation that the bandits are not really indoctrinated, they are just looking for money and I think that this is a good prognosis.
“They are not targeting a religion; they are not ideologues, which are difficult to deal with. We should not forget that they are not educated, formally or informally. They are just going about with cattle, and suddenly they found a lucrative way of finding money.”
Recall that on May 27, 2021, bandits attacked Salihu Tanko Islamiyya school in Tegina town, Rafi LGA, Niger and abducted several schoolchildren.
They went on to demand N200 million ransom for the release of the 156 abducted Islamiyya students.