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Insecurity: Fulani herdsmen aren’t bandits but militants fighting ethnic war Sheik Gumi
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By Dapo Akinrefon & Olayinka Ajayi
Renowned Islamic cleric, Sheik Ahmad Gumi, yesterday, insisted that the armed Fulani herdsmen are not bandits but militants fighting for ethnic survival.
The former captain in the Nigeria Defence Academy, NDA, spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today, while reeling out his experience with the armed herders. His words: “It is a complex issue. It is an ethnic war and the solution is dialogue and teaching them Islam. To them, they are talking about an ethnic existence.”
Asked if the armed bandits are Nigerians, Gumi said: “They are Nigerians. I hate to call them bandits. They are militants fighting for ethnic survival. They want to defend themselves. If there is peace, you will not see such things as banditry, kidnapping among others.
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Senator Shehu Sani has asked the authorities to negotiate with the bandits who killed one student and abducted several others at the Government Science College Kagara in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State.
The lawmaker said on Thursday that the boys should be negotiated out of danger because the bandits have nothing to lose and will not hesitate to harm the abductees.
Following the abduction which took place in the early hours of Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the armed forces and police to ensure the safe return of the students and officials abducted, a directive that has since led security operatives to launch rescue missions around the region.