Sheikh Gumi Mentions 2 Nigerian Leaders Who Visited Militants
- Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi questioned why no official has gone to meet Boko Haram terrorists and bandits the way past leaders engaged Niger Delta militants
- Gumi recalled how former President Goodluck Jonathan and former VP Yemi Osinbajo both entered the creeks to broker peace with militants
- The cleric asked who would extend the same engagement to armed groups in northern Nigeria without facing public criticism
Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has raised questions about why no Nigerian government official has engaged Boko Haram terrorists and bandits through direct negotiations, drawing a comparison with the high-level outreach that helped end Niger Delta militancy.
Gumi made the argument in a Facebook post on Saturday, July 25, citing how former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo personally entered the Niger Delta creeks to meet armed militants and returned with frameworks that reduced the violence.
Source: Twitter
Gumi wrote:
"The former President Jonathan visited delta militants in the creeks, so also the former vice president Osinbajo. They all came up with a program to tame the militants."
He then directed a pointed question at critics of such engagement in the North: "Who is going to visit BH and bandits to tame them without fools castigating them?"
Gumi's long history of dialogue advocacy
The retired soldier has spent years positioning himself as a mediator between the Nigerian state and armed groups operating in the North-West and North-East, making repeated visits to bandit camps in Zamfara and other states to hear their demands. His core argument has remained consistent — that negotiation ended Niger Delta militancy and should be tried in the North.
His interventions have not been without controversy. Some Nigerians accuse him of legitimising groups responsible for kidnappings, killings and cattle rustling, while others credit his work with securing the freedom of kidnap victims. Gumi has denied backing terrorism, saying his goal is to end bloodshed through dialogue and rehabilitation.
The Niger Delta precedent
The amnesty programme that Gumi referenced was launched in 2009 under the late President Umaru Yar'Adua and continued under Jonathan. Thousands of militants were disarmed in exchange for training, monthly stipends and reintegration support, which significantly reduced attacks on oil infrastructure in the region.
Jonathan's first direct engagement with Niger Delta militants came in 2007, when he was serving as vice-president. He entered the creeks in Warri, Delta State, without armed protection to meet ex-militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, known as Tompolo. Jonathan later said that the meeting laid the groundwork for the amnesty programme, which remains operational today.
Osinbajo undertook a similar mission in 2017, visiting Niger Delta communities as acting president and meeting directly with militants and traditional leaders. He justified the visits by describing those in the creeks as citizens with genuine grievances rather than purely security threats.
Source: Facebook
Sheikh Gumi speaks on new terrorist group
Legit.ng earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu-led federal government has been urged to establish a special paramilitary to tackle the new terrorist group, Lakurawa sect, in the North.
Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, a prominent Islamic scholar, stated this while speaking on the recent expansion of the sect in the northern region.
The cleric maintained that the ideology of the group was yet to be known, adding that their recent attack was similar to other religious sects in the Sahel region.
Source: Legit.ng
