Kidnapping children lesser evil than killing soldiers — Sheikh Gumi

Popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has described the kidnapping of schoolchildren as a “lesser evil” compared to killing soldiers, insisting that Nigeria must negotiate with bandits to prevent greater bloodshed and end terrorism.

Speaking in an interview with the BBC shared on Tuesday, Gumi stated that kidnapping children, though wrong, is less severe than killing, especially when the children are released safely. 

“Saying that kidnapping children is a lesser evil than killing your soldiers, definitely is lesser. Killing is worse than, but they are all evil. It’s just a lesser evil. Not all evils are of the same power.”

Gumi referenced past incidents, like the Kebbi State mass abduction, where victims were released unharmed to support his point.

“So it’s a lesser evil than, like, what happened in Kebbi. They abducted children, and they were released. They didn’t kill them.”

Gumi’s comment followed the recent abduction of more than 315 people, including 303 students and 12 teachers in Niger State.

 reports that the Federal Government on Sunday announced the release of 100 students, while an earlier report confirmed the escape of 50 others just days after the kidnapping.

“It’s an evil, and we pray that they escape”, Gumi responded briefly when asked what he would say to their parents.

Gumi maintained that negotiating with bandits is a necessary approach, calling it a practical way to achieve peace and save lives. 

According to him, engagement with non-state actors is unavoidable, noting that “everybody negotiates with bandits” in various situations.

“That word ‘we don’t negotiate’, I don’t know where they got it from. It’s not in the Bible. It’s not in the Quran.

“In fact, it’s not even in practice. Everybody negotiating with outlaws, non-state actors, everybody. So who got it, and where did they get that knowledge from? We negotiate for peace and our strategic interests. If negotiation will bring stoppage to bloodshed, we will do it,” Gumi said.

The cleric stressed that his past collaborations with bandits were not carried out secretly.

“I go there with the authorities. I don’t go there alone. And I go there with the press,” he said.

Gumi shared that his last meetings with bandit groups were in 2021, where he claimed to have worked to unite different factions, stating that the federal government was not supportive of his efforts back then.

However, the cleric stated that after the groups were labeled terrorists, he stopped engaging with them. 

He also emphasised that Nigeria’s military should not handle security alone, suggesting a need for a more collaborative approach to address the country’s security challenges.

“We need a robust army… but even the military is saying our role in this civil unrest, in this criminality, is 95% kinetic. The rest is the government, the politics, and the locals. The military cannot do everything.”

Gumi further stressed that most bandits are Fulani herdsmen from rural areas, not urban Fulani, and their actions stem from struggles related to cattle rearing and survival. 

He advocated for differentiating between the two groups.

“They are fighting an existential war… Their life revolves around cattle. In fact, they inherit them. They’ll tell you, ‘This cow I inherited from my grandfather.’ They are mostly Fulani herdsmen, not the Fulani town, because you have to differentiate between the two.”

culled from Tribune