Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has said no other President had killed innocent Fulani herdsmen as Muhammadu Buhari had done.
Gumi, known for his influence among bandits and herdsmen terrorising the North-West and North-Central parts of Nigeria, said this in an interview with Vanguard while speaking on the complexity of the insecurity problem, the actors and what he thinks is the way out.
He said on the metamorphosis of the Ansaru sect that executed the Abuja-Kaduna train killings and kidnap, Gumi said they had to carve out a small area where they could live their lives.
“And I think they were disbanded, and some of their children were arrested, so they dispersed and got arms to fight back.
“If you want to demarcate Boko Haram and the ISWAP, they are originally one group. Boko Haram was killing and massacring civilians.
“When the Daesh came, they (Ansaru) said ‘okay let’s follow the Daesh and become a subsidiary of the Daesh’.
“They are not Boko Haram. To them, Boko is not a problem.
“Their problem is that they want to seclude themselves in the forest so that they live their pristine life the way they envisaged it.
“But because of the fear of Boko Haram. The authorities disbanded them.
“When their camp was disbanded, they became armed. They’re not challenging the state. They were challenging wrongdoing by the state.
“That was why when they took the (train attack) victims, they wanted their prisoners to be released. You’ve seen the difference now,” Gumi noted.
On President Buhari’s place in the complex insecurity matter, Gumi said: “These bandits, who is supplying them weapons? There are bad elements in security (services).
“Even if you are the Commander-in-Chief, if you don’t look at the security system and overhaul it completely, this problem will continue.”
Told the perception in some quarters that Buhari was protective of the Fulani, Gumi said: “Oh, it’s the opposite. It is just a wrong perception.
“If there is any President that has actually killed innocent herdsmen in the forest, it is Buhari. In all these bombardments, innocent people, women and children, all die.
“It started during Jonathan (administration). I’m telling you most of the herdsmen are reacting to the overuse of armed forces.
“Their children were scattered and displaced. This is what happened and what is happening. They are just fighting back.
“And what I was able to do is to sit down with them and hear their grievances.
“But when we came out, we didn’t have anything — nobody was trying to listen. Even the press is not receptive.
“The press was very hostile. Like what you said when the BBC had its interview, the government was hostile.
“When we went in, we were accused of trying to give publicity to these people. Just imagine the Ansaru people behind the train attack; we later learned that eight of their children were incarcerated.
“So no matter how criminally-minded you are, what has that to do with your children? So we’re pushing them into criminal activities.”
