Gumi, Army Tackles Each Other, As 200 Killed in Zamfara, Despite Buhari’s No-fly Zone Order

The Nigerian Army and a popular Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, on Wednesday disagreed over the latter’s allegation that security agents were collaborating with bandits.

Gumi, while featuring on Morning Show, a programme on Arise TV, on Wednesday, alleged that a lot of those he described as bad elements in the nation’s security forces were colluding with bandits.

The cleric stated that the bandits had been able to access assorted weapons that they used against Nigeria due to the cooperation of the security agents.

Report said at least 200 residents of Zamfara State had been killed in violent attacks despite an order by the President, MajorGeneral Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), declaring a no-fly-zone over the state’s airspace.

On his part, the Kaduna-based cleric alleged that the security agents were doing business with the security and lives of Nigerians

Gumi said, “These bandits, if you don’t know, are cooperating with a lot of bad elements in our security system. This is a business. So many people are involved; you will be surprised.

“They were caught in Zamfara. They were caught everywhere. How do these big weapons cross our borders?

“How can these big weapons cross our borders and get into the forest without the cooperation of some bad elements of the security operatives assisting them? It is not possible.

“If I give you the same quantity of guns, can you take them to the UK? You can’t, because the security is at alert. Part of fighting this banditry is to overhaul our security system.”

He attributed the incessant banditry and herdsmen attacks across the country to tribal wars.

“What you call banditry, when you cross to the other side, you find out Nigeria is fighting a tribal war,” he said.

Gumi, who admitted that bandits commit atrocities, also accused the government at all levels of taking sides in the raging attacks on Nigerian communities.

“When you said these bandits are committing atrocities, yes, agree they are committing crimes. They are killing people. They are raping. They are doing all sorts of atrocities.

“But, have you for once gone to their own sides and see all sorts of atrocities that are also committed against them?” he asked.

Gumi claimed that herdsmen had been lynched across the southern region, while specifically naming Anambra and Oyo states.

The prominent cleric believes that the government should be neutral, rather than taking sides in addressing banditry and herdsmen attacks.

He stated, “The moment government takes sides, it becomes part of the conflict. And this is what I saw in Zamfara State, in Niger State and other states.

“It is very unfortunate that in the 21st century because of the fracture in our governmental structure people have turned to tribalism or religion originality to express their grievances,” he lamented.

He described the amnesty granted to bandits by the Katsina State Governor Bello Masari as “a political amnesty without any package.”

Gumi said “You granted a political amnesty, I mean an amnesty in the front of the media but in the real sense there was no amnesty.

“Amnesty comes with a package,” he maintained, stating that “the package is that you rehabilitate these criminals, you provide them social amenities.But the Army denied the allegation made by Gumi.

The Director of Army Public Relations, Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement on Wednesday, described the claim by the cleric as a calculated attempt to undermine the sacrifices of the troops aimed at restoring peace in the country.

The statement was titled Nigerian Army not colluding with bandits.’