Says there are about 100,000 bandits in N/West alone
Prominent Islamic cleric, Dr. Ahmad Gumi, has asked the Federal Government to engage bandits in order to guarantee security in schools.
No fewer than six kidnappings of school children have occurred in the North-West and North-Central parts of the country, with not less than 700 students and staff abducted since December 2020.
The latest abduction occurred when bandits attacked Federal Government College, Birnin-Yauri, in Kebbi State and abducted many students and staff. The abductions have resulted in the suspension of boarding schools and the deployment of security operatives to schools in some States.
Speaking on the 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 region, they may not be more than 100,000 bandits. And that is just a drop in the ocean, he said, adding that “ninety percent of those who have weapons use them to protect themselves against cattle rustlers”.
Speaking on the abducted Islamiyya students of Niger State, the cleric said he is still trying to talk sense to the abductors not to collect dirty money from the parents of the kidnapped students.
“We are trying to talk sense to them that these are just innocent schoolchildren. We dont 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”, he stated.
