Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has defended his push for a non-kinetic approach to insecurity in Nigeria, saying he will lead the calls for the release of the convicted leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, if the latter shows remorse.
Kanu was convicted of seven counts of terrorism by the Federal High Court in Abuja. However, Gumi said if the IPOB leader shows remorse for his actions and pronouncements, he will be among those pushing for his pardon.
“This Kanu that was imprisoned for terrorism for agitating that our soldiers should be killed, if this same Kanu now will show remorse and also call for peace, honestly, I will be in the forefront in calling for his pardon and amnesty for him,” he said on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
“Look, Shagari, our president, we are from the same town. Shagari gave amnesty to Ojukwu. Look at Umar Yar’Adua; he gave amnesty to the Niger Delta militants, who have also committed acts of terrorism. So, this is how we are.”
Gumi, who has been at the forefront of calls for governments to adopt a non-kinetic approach to resolving security issues, especially in the northern parts of Nigeria, believes the country will be better off with that.
The cleric argued that since “we have people who are ready to put down their arms, then why do you always decide it has to be kinetic?”
“Even America could not succeed in Afghanistan, even Israel could not succeed in a small strip of land. Our army is not designed for the gorilla; no army is designed for the kind of people we are showing now, no army is designed for it,” he said on the breakfast show.
“If you have been following, the Fulani herdsmen have been calling for peace. When you call them for peace, they come with their guns for many reasons,” Gumi said.
“Can you call IPOB for peace? Can you call Boko Haram? I think the former president has called for peace, and they came, but now it’s difficult to call for peace again. So, anybody who inclines to peace. I’m with him, I’m telling you.”
His comment comes on the heels of heightened insecurity in the country. Mass abductions of schoolchildren and worshippers have taken place in several states in Nigeria in the past weeks, raising concerns over the safety of the nation.
President Bola Tinubu had ordered security operatives to go after the assailants, but opposition figures have faulted his government’s handling of the situation, describing it as inadequate.
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