Controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has challenged government officials to engage Boko Haram insurgents and bandits in dialogue, drawing parallels with past negotiations that helped end militancy in the Niger Delta.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Gumi recalled how former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo visited militants in the creeks, returning with programmes that reduced violence in the oil-rich region.
“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 wrote, before asking:
“Who is going to visit BH and Bandits to tame them without fools castigating them?”Gumi has long advocated dialogue with armed groups in Nigeria’s North-West and North-East, arguing that negotiation, rather than military force, offers a path to peace.
He has previously visited bandit camps in Zamfara and other states, insisting his efforts are aimed at ending bloodshed and rehabilitating fighters.
While critics accuse him of legitimising criminal groups responsible for kidnappings and killings, supporters credit his interventions with helping secure the release of abducted victims.
The cleric pointed to the Niger Delta amnesty programme, launched in 2009 under President Umaru Yar’Adua and expanded by Jonathan, which saw thousands of militants disarmed in exchange for stipends, training and reintegration support.
He argued that similar outreach could help address insecurity in northern Nigeria.
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