Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, a controversial Islamic cleric and former military officer, has expressed his disapproval of the conventional approach of spending funds on Second World War aircraft, artillery, and jets to combat insurgency. Gumi argues that such methods are outdated in addressing the issue.
Emphasizing that banditry is rooted in the long-standing farmer-herder crisis in the North, Gumi suggests that an honest and open dialogue with the perpetrators could be a more effective means of resolving the menace.
He also said that it’s high time the military stopped interfering in internal security challenges as the country needs a stronger police force to address issues such as banditry.
The cleric said;
“This is not the first time such is happening. The military should fight the military. Tank by tank. Jet by jet. The military should be out of fighting insecurity. We are not fighting Cameroon or Togo.
“And the jet fighters should not be used on citizens. I cannot imagine any American president, no matter how instructive, would use F16 to bombard Americans. Impossible. He would go down the next day.
“What we need are very good policies. Then stronger policing. That’s where our money should go. All those people should be involved in community policing.
“In every society you have very good people and they are the majority. Nigerians are very humble people; very resilient who can sustain a lot of hardship. So I don’t see why good governance and good policing should be a big deal.
“All the money we spend on buying all these Second World War aeroplanes and artillery and jets to fight insurgency is an archaic way of dealing with this issue. And billions of naira are spent on that.
“Negotiate with these people. Build for them schools and hospitals. Let them have future. Build for them markets. Even the people we call bandits, what they sometimes complain is that they no longer have cattle markets because whenever they establish market, it gets destroyed.
“So the military should be out of this picture completely. We are not fighting a foreign country. We should develop our internal security.”
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