Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Abubakar Mahmud Gumi has faulted the declaration of Fulani bandits as terrorists by thr federal government. The revered Islamic cleric who remains consistent in faulting the approach of fighting Fulani banditry and has been very vocal in telling the authorities that the use of force against criminal herdsmen cannot stop their acts of violence, said government decision to succumb to pressure and other acts of media blackmail to declare the bandits as terrorists was only done for political expediency but not as a means of ending the crisis.
Gumi said even the official pronouncement backed by a court of law to declare IPOB as terrorists organisation did not work and that the international community has refused to officially accept the declaration and consider the IPOB members and their actions against the state as terrorists acts.
Gumi lamented that declaring the bandits as terrorists will only provide opportunity to terrorists groups to reach out to them and to indoctrinate them with misguided religious beliefs which its consequences will be more dangerous and devastating to the nation. He said the only solution to ending banditry is to go back to the genesis of the crisis, address issues of injustice especially related to cattle rustling and extortion, and to educate the Fulani herdsmen as well as provide employment opportunities for them. He said Nigeria has a lot to learn from the recent American experience in Afghanistan and how the US forces suffered heavy casualties and failed to restore security despite their technology and fire power. He insisted that considering glaring instances of failure to stop kidnappings and killings, the military did not have the capacity to end acts of banditry and to provide security to the most vulnerable Nigerians.
Below is the content of his response regarding FG’s declaration:-Declaring the herdsmen banditry as terrorists is just a decision taken for political expediency. I think the federal government has succumbed to media blackmail by a section of the country. It will not have any practical value because even before the declaration they are being fought and treated as terrorists. So is just a nomenclature which I believe will not change the dynamics on ground. If you can remember IPOB was also declared a terrorist organisation, the declaration was even backed by the order of the Court but as you can see even the international community did not recognize FG’s declaration of IPOB. So it has failed to be effective or to achieve the desired results. They have not been ban from travelling to other countries while their citizenship remains intact, it has not been denounced.
So what type of declaration is that? I sincerely hope that Nigerians will not take the herdsmen as terrorists but should regard the criminality of the few among them against innocent people as acts of terrorism just as we see IPOB and their attacks on security agencies and other northern citizens as acts of terrorism. Very few herdsmen are bandits if you go through their population.
I hope this declaration will not give the license to people to be profiling herdsmen in general as terrorists and taking laws into their hands against them. It will cause more mayhem. The declaration will not change anything, it will not change the dynamics. Already the military is engaging them. It didn’t stop them from kidnappings and killings. The declaration will not end their aggression against the society.
The Fulani banditry is a socio-economic problem. We have seen it, we interacted widely with them. We told the federal government the way out. It can only be won through engagement, dialogue and justice. That is why today there is relative peace in the Niger Delta because government have accepted the painful reality of rehabilitating and empowering them. There has to be equitable distribution of wealth in Nigeria and justice for every one. People don’t want to accept it, before the issue of banditry that now affects all of us, the Fulanis have suffered so much. They have lost their legitimate means of livelihood, I mean their cows through cattle rustling and extortion by security agencies. That has to be addressed as a means of genuine reconciliation and integration. They should have sense of belonging. By Sheikh Ahmad Gumi
