A famous rights group, Rising-Up for a United Nigeria (RUN) has urged security agencies including the Department of State Security (DSS) to immediately profile and arrest Sheikh Abubakar Gumi for evident ties with terrorists.
Gumi, a Kaduna based cleric has been vocal in his support for bandits, terrorists and has unapologetically offered to negotiate with them while vehemently rejecting the notion that they are criminals but victims of the Nigerian state.
In a tersely worded press release signed and made available to journalists in Abuja over the weekend by Amb. Solomon Adodo and Mallam Suleiman Musa, the Convener and Secretary of RUN respectively, warned that not arresting Gumi will send a wrong signal to Nigerians who have been devastated by the activities of bandits and terrorists for more than a decade now.
According to the release, “it is curious that Sheikh Abubakar Gumi only becomes vocal when bandits strike and kidnap scores of law abiding, innocent Nigerians. There is no gainsaying that the Sheikh has direct links with these criminals and equally benefits from the ransom money collected.
“His renewed boldness following the kidnap of over 280 school children from Kuriga village in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State has given him out as a terrorist coordinator and mobiliser. Gumi must know that this is a new administration and he cannot continue to boldy indulge in criminality without repercussions”.
The group equally disparaged remarks attributed to Gumi that the Niger Delta region is calm because “agitators from the region have been given the job of securing pipelines and a similar deal should be struck with bandits in the north, describing it as a declaration of war on the Nigerian state by Gumi and his criminal gangs. The DSS should therefore immediately arrest Gumi before he leads an assault on the Presidential Villa”.
The group also call on the Defense Headquarters to act accordingly in protecting the nation’s territorial integrity by arresting Gumi who from all indications has been coordinating the activities of bandits from the trenches with the sole aim of profiting from the criminality and undermining Nigeria’s security.
“We call on the Chief of Defense staff to beam his searchlight on Gumi and probably include his name in the list of wanted persons. He must be arrested and questioned to ascertain the extent of his involvement with bandits and terrorists especially in Kaduna where most of the abductions have been staged. It is also obvious that these are deliberately done to discredit the Chief of Defense Staff who is from the state and as such his smokescreen antics must not be treat3d with kid gloves but dealt a decisive blow”.