Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has stated that the Federal Government knows the hideout of killer herdsmen and bandits involved in criminal activities across the country.
Sheikh Gumi stated this on Monday, February 22, while appearing as a guest on a political programme.
He said security forces have not moved to dislodge the terrorists because the government is playing safe after realising its former approach of attacking the bandits frontally has not yielded positive results.
Asked why he can locate and hold dialogue with the bandits, while security agencies find it hard to snuff them out, the cleric responded thus: “They (government) know. They see them (bandits) by the aerial view. They have intelligence among them. I met a herdsman who is part of the internal security. They all know. But the military has learned its lesson.
“The first approach they had, when they go in and start killing, they realised is the wrong way and that they were producing a monster. They are now very careful watching and studying how to go about it.
“The only element I am adding now is ‘look, don’t just wait and watch, go in and negotiate.’ We have to be very careful. If the pressure is too much, I am afraid they can be influenced by Boko Haram. We have seen the signs that Boko Haram is going to infiltrate them.”
The cleric also repeatedly referred to the bandits as militants, saying they sometimes see their activities as an ethnic war. He also said the killer-herdsmen have not killed so many people as reported, saying it is more of ethnic-revenge and to instill fear on villages who attack their kith and kin.
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