Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, on Wednesday called for the arrest of a popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, over his alleged relationship with bandits terrorising the country.
Fani-Kayode, who is also a human rights lawyer, alleged that the Kaduna-based cleric has a tie with the armed bandits who have been killing and kidnapping people in the North.
Gumi had at different times defended the interest of the bandits. The cleric had in the past demanded that amnesty be granted to the bandits.
The New Diplomat recently reported that the cleric appealed to the Nigerian government to urgently attend to the threat by armed bandits who abducted students of Greenfield University, Kaduna State.
Gumi urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pay the N100 million ransom and provide the 10 motorcycles demanded by the armed bandits.
But, Fani-Kayode, while reacting to the account of one of the parents, whose child was abducted by bandits from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka in Kaduna State, said Gumi should be interrogated over his interactions with the criminals.
The mother of the abducted child who was speaking with Roots TV station said, “They took us to Gumi’s house. He directed us to Ahmad who invited a Fulani from Kaduna. We contributed N800,000 for him. He told us that it was just for transport. I cried & pleaded with him, saying I’m a widow. He said it wasn’t his concern.”
Fani-Kayode warned the Federal Government to quickly arrest the cleric as failure to do so would spell doom for the security of the country.
“I hereby call on the FG to invite & interrogate Ahmad Gumi. Assuming this lady’s testimony is true, it provides a clear evidence of him being an accessory and accomplice to terrorism, abduction, kidnapping and murder. He is a BAG man, FRONT and PR officer for the terrorists that have plagued our land & I do not doubt that he benefits from the ransoms that are being paid. If these were not the case, he would not spend his entire life attempting to defend, justify, rationalise & explain their barbaric, homicidal, savage & beastly ways.
“These people have so much blood on their hands, yet Gumi still holds himself out as their advocate & best friend. He is nothing but an extortionist who thrives on the misery and blood of those that have been murdered and kidnapped. First, it was Pantami and now this!
“How much longer do the people of Nigeria have to put up with evil & wicked men like this? Enough is enough! If no one else will say it I WILL. Gumi must be brought to justice & so must every single one of his foreign Fulani terrorist friends & all those within & outside government that have links with ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, the Fulani terrorists, the Taliban, ISWA, Al Shabab & any other evil terrorist organisation which seeks to kill and Islamise our people and conquer and occupy our territory and nation.
“Nigerians are being murdered every day & our soldiers are on the war front being slaughtered by these barbarians & animals yet some that are highly placed in society are still supporting them? This is nothing but wickedness. This is evil. This is wrong. This is unacceptable.
“If the FG refuses to act against Gumi, it will raise questions about their commitment to fighting terror & stopping the terrorists. Every day people are being killed & kidnapped. This madness has to stop & those behind it and that covertly support it must be brought to justice.”
