The Southern Nigeria Frontier (SNF) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to order the immediate arrest of a controversial Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, over his support for bandits.
Naija News recalls that the Islamic cleric had warned the Federal Government against declaring bandits as terrorists, adding such a decision will come with a prize.
Gumi in a post on his Facebook account noted that the actions of bandits in the Northwest which has seen innocent people killed are tantamount to terrorism.
He, however, said the moment bandits are declared terrorists, the direct foreign Jihadist movements will set in force, and many unemployed youths may find it palatable and attractive.
In a statement on Wednesday by its spokesman, Olufemi Lawson, the Southern Nigeria Frontier said the call for Gumi’s arrest became necessary following his persistent defense of the bandits.
The group, however, wondered why the Muhammadu Buhari government has allowed Gumi to continue to defend the bandits and also issue hate speech.
It said the failure of security agencies to arrest the Islamic cleric is one of the issues reducing the country to a failed state.
The statement read, “The Southern Nigeria Frontier (SNF) is appalled by the recent statement credited to controversial Islamic Cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, where he claimed, that there would be a ‘big price’ if the terrorists currently rampaging the various parts of the country, particularly the Northwest, are so designated as Terrorists, against the tag of Bandits, that they are currently being addressed as.
To say the least, the SNF is not in any way surprised by Sheik Gumi’s position, considering the fact, that he has consistently positioned himself, as the mouthpiece of these terrorists’ gangs, especially as the federal government continues to behave helplessly, despite the fundamental need to question Gumi’s unhidden affinity and strong solidarity with these elements.
The continued failure of President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime, to call Gumi for questioning is no doubt, one of the major reasons, why the administration has been several times accused of being soaked in all manners of nepotism and running Nigeria like a Fulani colony.
Sheikh Gumi has continued to roam all over the place, acting as a link man between the federal government and these terrorists, as his intervention and utterances while doing this are another matter entirely. Doesn’t it look like we have a low-intensity war going on in the country, when the Government is now being subjected to the wishes of Sheikh Gumi, in order to make a decision, on a matter of crucial National security?
Whether they like it or not, we in Southern Nigeria, believe, that there is a low-intensity war going on, and if Nigeria is not becoming a failed state, Gumi should have by now been arrested and placed under serious interrogation by the security agencies, but they have refused to do this, up till this moment, because he is surely playing the game of some very significant persons, in the present administration.”
The Southern group stated that Gumi or anyone still shielding Boko Haram terrorists and bandits is the real enemy of the country.
It claimed that Gumi is an integral part of the ongoing terrorism in the nation, which must be immediately quizzed to solve the insecurity in the North West region.
It added: “We make bold to say that Gumi or anyone still shielding these criminal elements at this point is the real troublers of Nigeria, who are out, to continue to make life unbearable not only for the suffering people of the northwest but all of us, as Nigerians.
The position of Sheikh Gumi, which unfortunately the Buhari presidency has remained silent over, shows that he has no regard for Nigerians, and does not see us, as fellow human beings. Gumi is an integral part of the ongoing terrorism codenamed banditry, and if care is not taken, they are bound to take Nigeria down.
The actions of these terrorists and their supporters such as Gumi, have put Nigeria on the precipice and they no longer behave like fellow countrymen. They are behaving like enemies of Nigeria and enemies of the rest of us.
Once again, we are demanding an immediate arrest and investigation into the activities of Gumi, whose audacity at defending these crimes against our people, has gotten to an alarming height. We shall also be petitioning the relevant members of the diplomatic community, the International Criminal Court, and the UN agencies over Gumi’s complicity in the crime against humanity, which he has become a vanguard of.
Finally, we call on Nigerians, to be alert and extremely vigilant, at this point in time. We would not surrender to these terrorists and their enablers who are trying to take advantage of the silence of the federal government, to impose their war on all of us. Nigerians must gird their loins and be prepared to defend themselves and their land against marauders who are all over the place terrorizing them.”
