An Islamic Cleric, Sheik Abubakar Gumi, has revealed that the bandits operating in the Northern States Forests are planning to acquire anti-aircraft missiles to counter future attacks by the Nigerian Army.
He made this known after his recent visit to the armed killer bandits in the Forests in Zamfara State, adding that, his interaction with the bandits showed that they engage in kidnapping and collection of ransom, for the purpose of raising money to buy weapons.
Gumi on his return from the Forests, called on the government to grant amnesty to the bandits, so that they would drop their weapons.
While with the bandits, he said that he was made to understand that the bandits take to crime, to revenge the killing of their families by cattle rustlers and the military, through airstrikes.
He made this disclosure in an exclusive interview with Saturday PUNCH.
While explaining that the bandits are victims seeking justice, Gumi warned that it is important for the government to meet with them urgently, before they become religiously radicalised and uncontrollable like the Boko Haram insurgents.
His words: “These people were the first victims of cattle rustling, who lost all their cattle to rustlers, because then, the rustlers were having the guns. Then when they lost their cattle, they joined (the rustlers) and they started to kidnap people.
“In fact, most of the kidnappings, they (the bandits) are doing it to acquire weapons. They are now trying to buy missiles, anti-aircraft missiles. This is already developing into a full-blown insurgency, and we should stop that. And what we are afraid of is that if they become religiously radicalised, it will give rise to another dimension, and it will be very difficult to control. You see what Boko Haram has become.”
Gumi ruled out the possibility that the bandits are being sponsored by Politicians, or have foreign collaborators.
According to him, the bandits’ sophisticated weapons were acquired with proceeds of kidnapping, and not given to them by Politicians or foreign collaborators.
He added: “Like I said, they are collecting ransoms to buy weapons. Look at the herdsmen in Oyo and South-Eastern States. They are not buying skyscrapers or riding Mercedes; they are still in the bush. They do not want money. They want their cows, not money. They are doing that (kidnapping) to raise money just to buy weapons, to repel helicopters and airplanes, and to attack anybody that is going to attack them. You have to understand the psychology of these people. They are not like our Governors that are stealing money. They do not want money. For them, cow is better than money.
“They have collaborators everywhere – in the Armed Forces, everywhere. One of them said, ‘Even this cattle rustling, we do not have trailers to transport cattle to where they are slaughtered. We do not have an abattoir’. So, there are people who are (collaborating with them). Even the kidnapping of the people, they said, ‘We do not know these people; it is the people in town that will tell us a certain person has money’.”
The Cleric warned that if the government fails to act fast, banditry would also spread to the South.
He maintained that the best approach to solve the banditry problem is through dialogue and granting amnesty to the bandits, rather than using Military might.
He noted: “These people (bandits) know how to organise themselves and protect themselves, and they have started attacking villages all around. Once you touch one of them, the whole of them will come together to attack a village. They mobilise themselves through the bush. So, it is not good to attack them, honestly speaking. The Hausa are suffering, and they have therefore stopped attacking the Fulani herdsmen. So, we should not attack them. We should just pacify them and they are a very shy people. If you meet them, they are very shy.”
The Cleric called on the government to urgently engage the bandits in a dialogue, grant them amnesty, and re-integrate them into society, by building schools, hospitals, and other amenities for them.
He added: “When you offer them amnesty, they drop their weapons. Then you go in, build schools for them, build hospitals for them, get them censored; get them registered; then you can control (them).
“You cannot have access to them through the gun. Honestly, they know the terrain in the bush more than our Military. So, it is better to negotiate with them.”
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