A popular Islamic scholar,Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has attributed the insurgence of banditry as to the clashes between farmers and herders in the country.
He however, blamed the failure to tame them during the administration of former president Muhammadu Buhari, saying, the then government was doing opposite of what was agreed on
He said the issues were diagnosed and discovered that it could be solved, adding that prior before he was frustrated, he had gathered almost all the commanders for a talk with the government.
He said “after our diagnosis, it was realised that it was the farmer/herder clash that metamorphosed into what we are seeing.
“And we decided to cross the aisle and see the other side and hear what they have; maybe the government and security forces could benefit.
“We made sure we didn’t go to meet them without the presence of some security elements so that they could also understand what these people are saying.
“It is something that can assist them, especially in the non-kinetic approach to conflict resolution.
“But, when we told the government to do A, they would do the opposite. We told them to sit down with these people; in fact, we were able to gather most of the commanders that today.
“We wanted to sit down with them put an action plan and do what we did to Niger Delta militants, expecting to see results.”
Gumi however, submitted that herdsmen must have access to education and life of dignity,describing it as their right as human beings
“It is their right. They have right to education and life of dignity. They are humans, so let’s bring them close, but the government will do the opposite.
“We called them bandits, but now, we call them terrorists. As a Muslim scholar, I cannot deny that religion has told us that thousands of years we would have terrorists.
“The prophet told us that we would have youths at the end of time, killing people. But you are not supposed to be killed in the name of God.
“But these people, the herdsmen, are not terrorists; they are people who think they are fighting for their rights. They were displaced from their lands, and their grazing reserves have been encroached upon.
” Worst of it is that if they had any case with anybody, they won’t get mercy from the police, judges and local emirs. Everybody is against them because they have cattle.
“And they are easily framed because they don’t have access to law, lawyers and educated people. So we found out we could go in and embrace them, but the government will always do something different.”
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