Bandits: War doesn’t work, negotiation does – Sheikh Gumi

Bandits: War doesn’t work, negotiation does – Sheikh Gumi

Renowned Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has restated his call for a negotiated end to banditry in the country.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Gumi maintained that negotiation and not war can end the menace.

The Kaduna-based cleric spoke a day after President Bola Tinubu declared a hard-line stance against criminal elements operating in the country during his 2026 budget presentation before the National Assembly on Friday.

The president emphasised that bandits, violent cult groups, kidnappers, foreign-linked mercenaries, and other armed non-state actors would be treated as terrorists under a new security framework to be rolled out by his administration.

“Under this new architecture, any armed group or gun-wielding non-state actors operating outside state authority will be regarded as terrorists,” Tinubu said.

“Bandits, militias, armed gangs, armed robbers, violent cults, forest-based armed groups, and foreign-linked mercenaries will all be targeted.

“We will go after all those who perpetrate violence for political or sectarian ends, along with those who finance and facilitate their evil schemes.”

However, Gumi averred that war has never ended security challenges such as banditry, noting that Nigeria must learn from its recent history.

He said, “They say: negotiations doesn’t work. It’s a lie. It worked with militants in Niger Delta creeks.

“Rather, it’s war that doesn’t work, 16 years we’re still fighting BH and 11 years fighting bandits.

“It’s stupidity doing the same thing and expect different results.”