Northern Elders To Gumi: Stop Justifying Banditry

North East Elders for Peace and Development is cautioning Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, against justifying armed banditry and other associated criminality ravaging the north.

The elders expressed fear that recent comments and attitudes of the cleric could embolden the bandits.

Dissociating themselves from comments credited to Gumi where he accused the Nigerian military of triggering the raging banditry in parts of the North, the elders accused the Islamic cleric of making wild and unsubstantiated claims.

Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, who has been meeting with bandits in forests across Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina, and Niger states, alleged in one of such outings that non-Muslim soldiers had orchestrated killings in some communities, precipitating anger.

The cleric had made a similar claim on a national television program yesterday, maintaining the military had allegedly carried out the said campaign between 2010 and 2015.