…Says comparison unfair, as IPOB kills security agents while herdsmen kidnap children for money.
Renowned Islamic cleric, Sheikh (Dr.) Ahmad Gumi, has said bandits wreaking havoc in Nigeria’s North-West and North-Central regions cannot be compared with a separatist group like the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), because they only kidnap school children for money.
The cleric, who is known to have access to bandits, said herdsmen’s crimes weigh significantly lesser than those of IPOB who he said attack security agencies.
Speaking on a television programme yesterday, Gumi called for “fairness” in the comparison between the two groups, saying one “is killing our gallant men” while the other is “kidnapping children to make money and not to kill them”.
“IPOB is attacking the Police, the Army, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and other government institutions; killing our men in service.
“And the herdsmen are kidnapping children not to kill them but to get money; so how can you compare somebody who is killing our gallant men directly to somebody who is kidnapping children to make money and not to kill them. Look, we need some fairness in what we are doing”, he stated.
Recall that bandits have kidnapped about 100 school children across the North in the last few months, some of whom have been gruesomely murdered. They have also kidnapped hundreds of local people, and made life generally unsafe in the North-West States.
Dr. Gumi proposed that the bandits be granted amnesty like Niger Delta militants, noting that they are controlling large chunks of land and thus, hampering Nigeria’s economy.
