Sheikh Gumi: DSS invites cleric for questioning after Arise TV interview

The Nigerian Department of State Service (DSS), say they have invited controversial Islamic scholar Sheikh Ahmed Gumi to come and answer some questions.

DSS spokesperson, Peter Afunaya, who confirmed the report to Channels TV said there’s nothing unusual in inviting the cleric as it is normal for them “to invite any person of interest.”

But the DSS did not give specifics as to why he was invited for questioning.

This is coming after an interview the cleric granted to Arise TV recently, on Wednesday, 23, June 2021, where he accused some Nigerian Army officials of collaborating with bandits to commit crimes against Nigerians, the army has since released a statement denying the accusations.

“The sweeping accusations by the scholar are not only sad and unfortunate, but is also a calculated attempt to unfairly criticise the Nigerian military and sully the sacrifices of our patriotic troops.”

The military’s statement also added that it won’t attempt to deny that “it is possible to have some black sheep among them.”

The proscribed IPOB also released a statement saying, the claim by Sheikh Gumi in the interview that northerners are being killed in the South East region of Nigeria is not true.

Ipob in the statement said the killing of herdsmen is a “necessity to defend their “ancestral land” and their women from rape and attacks without justification.

They added that no northerner in any part of Igboland can prove that they are under attack.

What Gumi said during the Interview?

Sheikh Gumi said, what Nigerians are calling banditry is actually ‘tribal war’ and govenment is not supposed to take sides because once government supports one side, they have become a part of the conflict.

“This is what I saw in Zamfara state, in Niger state and other states. This is a tribal war and the government are taking a side.”

On the other hand, the sheikh added that,bbanditry is a business and many of them do collaborate with “a lot of bad elements within our security system. This is a business and so many people have interests in it”

He claims this collaboration makes it possible for the proliferation of big weapons to cross the country’s border and end up in the forests.