It is
It’s no longer news that Kidnapping is one of the major challenges that has bedeviled the nation in the past few years.
It is a fact that there was a time when Nigerians were very wary of militants from the Niger Delta region of the federation because of the frequent cases of Kidnappings witnessed there at that time. Funnily enough however, the majority of the reported cases were of expatriates, that is, non-indigenes – professional oil workers and engineers from outside the shores of this country.
A prominent Islamic cleric, Abubakar Gumi has claimed that herdsmen learnt kidnapping from Niger Delta militants.
He however stated that the random kidnappings witnessed all over the nooks and crannies of the country are not something that anyone should be proud of. He therefore disclosed that the government should hold talks with herdsmen, and they will assist in flushing out the criminals among them.
According to earlier reports, Abubakar Gumi has been advocating amnesty for bandits.
He had initially suggested that the issue of banditry be viewed from an holistic perspective. For him, the bandits are themselves victims of cattle rustling who took to crime to defend themselves.
He made his opinion on the Fulani herdsmen kidnappings known while speaking on a program he featured on on the African Independent Television (AIT) on Tuesday, February 16 2021, where he said just about 10 percent of Fulani herdsmen are criminals.
The cleric made allusions to the past kidnappings witnessed back in the southern region of the federation by stating that the bandits learnt kidnapping from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), saying if militants could be granted amnesty, then the same should be applicable to the bandits.
He said if the federal government grants them amnesty, the other 90 percent of the herdsmen will reveal the identity of the criminals among them.
“We didn’t take a different route of trying to solve this problem and that is why we are still here today. And when we say amnesty, we don’t mean that anyone proved to be involved in murder should go free as such,” Abubakar Gumi said.
“They learnt kidnapping from MEND. I do not see any difference. They were the first victims of rustling. Their cattle is their oil. What we are seeing now is more of an insurgency than banditry. I can say 10 percent of the herders are criminals not 90 percent, in the end, they took up weapons to protect themselves from extinction.
“They themselves can take care of the little remnants of criminals among themselves because they don’t want anybody to bring mayhem to them.”
What is actually becoming a thing of worry for many Nigerians with the above line of thinking as proposed by Abubakar Gumi, is the fact that it seem like evil or nefarious activities are being rewarded all in the name of amnesty.
At this juncture many Nigerians just want to be safe anyway and wouldn’t mind what it takes to get peace and security back in the country.
-Gift Joseph Okpakorese
Staff Writer
