New Telegraph

Amnesty for bandits: Buhari’s shoot-atsight order won’t deter us –Gumi

Renowned Kaduna based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has declared that the shoot-at-sight order by President Muhammadu Buhari on AK-47 bearers will not deter him from moves to broker peace between communities and bandits. Gumi told Sunday Telegraph in Kaduna that even though the order will affect his efforts, he will not give up on his pursuit of peace.

 

Gumi, who is also advocating for a Commission that will take care of the nomads, noted that the existing Nomadic Education Commission is cash strapped and can no longer fulfil its mandate.

 

He said: “If you are negotiating for peace, many things will come up, but you don’t get tired. For me, I think government needs to review its strategy and it is a continuous process, because when it comes to the issue of war and peace, it is a continuous process and you cannot afford to be rigid.

 

“What the president has done, (shoot-on-sight order) will definitely affect what I am doing because there are so many other warlords that we are trying to get together to talk to. But now it is not going to be possible, because they can be the target of the military. So it is going to affect our negotiation.

 

“But I can assure you that we are not going to abandon what we are doing. What we can do is to review and then we can start at the local level.

The bandits are attacking the villages, and the villagers are attacking the bandits. So, we will go local and talk to the people and leave the Federal Government.”

 

On the quest for a Nomadic Commission, Gumi said: “The Nomadic Education Commission is not functional because there is no money for them. For example they cannot employ teachers. It is just a commission but cannot actually implement its mandate at the grassroots.”

He continued: “I would look at what President Muhammadu Buhari has done in the sense that everybody has his own perception. With what I saw there, I don’t think the military can succeed without serious damage. The military will use its firepower, but it is not everything that is about firepower. There is need for serious navigation or else they will cause too much damage

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