The Federal Government has extended an invitation to Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, an Islamic cleric residing in Kaduna, to be questioned on his remarks regarding the actions of bandits within the nation.
As per the Vanguard story from Monday, Sheikh Gumi is not above the law, according to the Federal Government.
Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and Orientation, announced this to reporters at the State House in Abuja.
Sheikh Gumi has faced controversies in the past months over his statements about the bandits operating in parts of the country. Recently, he said that the use of force on the bandits has turned them into monsters.
Speaking during an interview, he said that bandits are now kidnapping children and threatening death and that this is something they were not doing before. He said that the government needs to go back to the drawing board and change its tactics to the banditry issue.
He urged the federal government to come up with a program to rehabilitate the bandits, like what they did for the militants in Niger Delta.
He had said, “You need a program just like the Niger Delta, a program which will bring them out of the forests, educating them, giving them healthcare, giving them a peaceful life. This is how you entice people to abandon violence and militancy.”
He said that when the government continues to drop bombs on them, the bandits will have no sympathy for the children.
The invitation by the Federal Government has been generating reactions from members of the public, with some saying that the invitation is long overdue.
Below are some of the reactions from people:
