GUMI DEFENDS NEGOTIATION AS PATH TO ENDING NORTHERN INSECURITY
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By: Balogun Ibrahim
Controversial Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has questioned why Nigerian government officials have not engaged Boko Haram insurgents and bandits in peace negotiations, drawing parallels with past efforts to resolve the Niger Delta militancy through dialogue.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Gumi recalled how former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo visited Niger Delta militants in the creeks as part of efforts to end years of violence in the oil-producing region.
According to him, those engagements eventually led to programmes that helped reduce militancy.
“The former President Jonathan visited Delta militants in the creeks, so also the former Vice President Osinbajo. They all came up with a programme to tame the militants,” Gumi wrote.
The cleric then questioned who would be willing to undertake a similar peace mission to engage Boko Haram fighters and bandits operating in northern Nigeria without attracting public criticism.
“Who is going to visit BH and bandits to tame them without fools castigating them?” he asked.
Gumi has long advocated dialogue with armed groups in Nigeria’s North-West and North-East, arguing that negotiations offer a more sustainable path to peace than military action alone.
Over the years, he has visited bandit camps in states such as Zamfara, saying the engagements were aimed at understanding the grievances of the groups and encouraging peaceful resolutions.
His position has generated mixed reactions, with critics accusing him of legitimising criminal groups responsible for kidnappings, killings and other violent crimes. Supporters, however, argue that some of his interventions have contributed to the release of abducted victims.
The retired military officer has consistently denied supporting terrorism, maintaining that his efforts are focused solely on ending violence through dialogue, rehabilitation and reintegration.
The Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, introduced in 2009 under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and continued by the Jonathan administration, offered militants disarmament, vocational training, stipends and reintegration opportunities, significantly reducing attacks on oil facilities in the region.
Jonathan had earlier met former militant leader Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo) in the Niger Delta during his time as vice president, a move he later said helped pave the way for the amnesty initiative.
Similarly, Osinbajo, while serving as acting president in 2017, visited communities in the Niger Delta, meeting with militants and traditional rulers. He defended the outreach, saying those in the creeks were citizens with legitimate grievances that deserved engagement rather than being viewed solely as security threats.
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