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.

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The cleric who has been meeting with bandits across the country gave the advice during an interview with Arise TV.

He said, “Even the press are criminals too because they are putting oil into fire. These people are listening to you. You don’t address them as criminals if you want them to succumb. Youths are ready to put down their weapons. Now, they hear you calling them criminals, how do you want them to cooperate?

“So, you have to show them that they are Nigerians, that they should not hurt children and that they should be law-abiding. This is the language we want to hear (from) the press in assisting us in getting the boys.

“When we talk to them with nice wordings, they are ready to put their weapons down, they are ready to listen to us. But when the language is about criminality, about kill them, jail them, then this is what we end up having.”

Gumi also drew parallels with the recent re-emergence of Niger-Delta militants who have threatened to destabilize the nation if their grievances are not immediately addressed.

“You can see the Niger Delta people have already started coming out too to threaten the nation. So, it’s a nationwide problem we have with the youths taking weapon because it gives them a false sense of authority, importance,” he said.

The cleric said the bandits should be listened to, adding that “the language of criminality should be struck out.”

When asked if he believes anybody that kills, rapes, kidnaps and robs people is a criminal, Gumi said “he’s a criminal.”

“But let me show you one thing. If you are stopped by armed robbers on the road, this word criminal, you will not use it on them. You will tell them good things, obey them so that you will save yourself,” he added.

Armed gangs have sprung up across Nigeria in recent times. They engage in armed robbery, kidnapping and other forms of criminality.

Lastweek, while speaking on the recent abduction of students from Government Science College (GSC) Kagara, Rafi LGA of Niger state, Nigeria’s minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed said: ‘After the war, people still sit to dialogue. So if some people have taken it upon themselves to visit these people so that they can embrace peace, I don’t think there is anything wrong with that’.

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