I Have Made 600 Bandits Surrender, Calling For My Arrest Is Bigotry – Sheikh Gumi Brags

Popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has strongly rejected renewed demands for his arrest over his continuous commentary on banditry, insisting that those pushing such calls are acting out of ignorance, hate, and bigotry.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Gumi described his detractors as “spineless, irresponsible and unpatriotic imbecilic people” who prefer emotional outrage to genuine solutions. He maintained that nothing he has done amounts to wrongdoing, adding that many people attacking him simply cannot tolerate alternative views on security.

He cited one of his most publicised interventions: a January 2021 mission to Sabon Garin Yadi forest in Giwa LGA, Kaduna State. Gumi said the outreach was conducted openly and with full knowledge of the authorities, noting that he was escorted by the then Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, who represented the Inspector-General of Police.

According to him, during that meeting more than 600 armed bandits and their commanders agreed to surrender their weapons if the government met certain basic conditions such as providing amenities and ending arbitrary arrests. He claimed the government failed to honour those commitments, leading to the collapse of the peace effort.

Gumi questioned why engaging bandits for peace should be grounds for arrest when the intention was to save lives. He insisted that advocating dialogue is not a crime and warned that suppressing dissenting opinions only emboldens insecurity.

Concluding his message with a prayer, Gumi said intolerance toward opposing views is one of the biggest threats to Nigeria’s stability. “May Allah protect our nation from bigotry and from those who cannot tolerate opposing opinions,” he wrote.