“You’re A Bootlicker” – Sheikh Gumi Slams Femi Adesina For Calling Him ‘Bandit Lover’

Controversial Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has lambasted the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, for calling him a bandit-lover.

KanyiDaily recalls that Sheikh Gumi had declared that bandits are going nowhere until the Nigerian government grants them amnesty as it gave to Niger Delta militants.

The cleric also warned that military action against criminal herdsmen and bandits will not solve the security challenges in the country, but “will only worsen the situation” by pushing them closer to religious fanaticism.

Reacting in an article on Thursday, Femi Adesina described Gumi as a “bandit-lover”, noting that the cleric’s position on the military bombardment of the bandits is “false”.

The presidential aide said bandits already reneged the amnesty offers given to them by some state governors, adding that the military offensive won’t stop until all the criminals are destroyed.

Quoting the cleric’s statement verbatim, Adesina told Gumi that the bandits attacking the country are surely going to hell and he knows this very well.

Sheikh Gumi Fire Back At Femi Adesina

In his response on Friday in an article titled, “War Has Never Been A Solution Anytime Anywhere”, Sheikh Gumi dissociated himself from the bandit-lover tag.

The cleric also described Adesina as a “bootlicker”, arguing that he’s more interested in a solution that does not turn the region into a theatre of war.

“You bootlicker that called me a bandit-lover! I am not one, but my country-lover, my region-lover, my state-lover, and my people-lover, and humanity-lover.

“I am a qualified Medical Doctor who knows what it takes to precisely excise a brain tumour without destroying the delicate surrounding brain tissues. I was a commissioned military officer who knows what the military is for and what is the capability of our military. I am an intellectual with a Ph.D. from Abroad. I am an Islamic scholar who knows the immorality of killing innocent lives. So, silence for me in this ocean of oblivion is not an option.

“Only a fool would allow his dwelling to be a theatre of war. Unfortunately, how many fools are there. Killing rats in your rat-infested sitting room with an iron rod will only end up destroying your gadgets and furniture probably without killing any. We should not mask out poor governance with artillery power.

“Some disingenuous people say: peace and negotiations with herdsmen bandits have failed, and your mission has failed!

Gumi said his mission has not failed but it was sabotaged or discouraged by the same influential people that benefit from the chaos or like us to destroy ourselves and leave the herdsmen in perpetual ignorance.

“Some said we have tried amnesty but it didn’t work. You didn’t try amnesty but tried amnesia. Amnesty without rehabilitation, reconciliation, and reparation is no amnesty. Ask the former Niger Delta Militants who killed security men in the past what an amnesty is. What stops us from having a federal ministry of Nomadic Affairs where their grievances and complaints will be addressed?

“All the bandit leaders we saw complained of how some repentant ones were picked and extra-judicially killed after the surrender of their weapons. Without their trust of the very unjust system all Nigerians complain of, which they took arms to fight, peace and negotiations with them will not work. This brings our role of mediation. They know as religious men we will not deceive them, and they came out in troops to meet us. To our astonishment, it is the same unjust system that turns round to betray our peace mission.

“Some of the press for giving a negative narrative, whom I also term criminals-in-purpose, some of the politicians who I see as urban-bandits who out of their share mismanagement of our meagre resources and misplacement of priority cause the death and infirmity of more people than the bandits affect.

“Of recent, how many Nigerians die of cholera, a water-born disease, because of lack of simple clean water to drink, or typhoid, malaria, and malnutrition? A nation with a maternal mortality rate of almost 500000/annum because of the lack of adequate maternal health facilities and qualified staff. A country where its highly-priced medical personnel is looking for a window to escape the inferno. Such a country, please!

“By the way, what you may not hear, is that the bandits over the years have developed escape routes from aerial bombardments. They told us: you can only kill our women and children with your attacks!

“Just yesterday, two contingents of banditry victims came to me that their loved ones were abducted by bandits in Kaduna suburbs – Rigachukun and Keke. An escapee engineer in the later said, when he overheard and understood that they were strangers in the area as they were calling the locals to lead them, that gave him the courage to slip through densely grown maize plantations to escape. The point is that, if Zamfara is on fire for them, definitely it goes without saying that they will migrate to other areas. So, is the whole of Nigeria going to be under lock-up, in incommunicado?

“As for the economic impact of the areas now under siege, it’s just a matter of time, you’ll hear them crying out. Already yesterday a man from Tsafe came begging because of economic stagnation, one would have thought that Gusau the capital is closer than Kaduna to beg.

“As for those cynics that have no value to add in the dilemma except vituperation, and abuses, we know that is the substance they are made up of. No qualms whatsoever! You don’t expect fragrance from feces. So, what is the solution?

“Good Intelligence! Good proficient policing, engagement of the local herdsmen in policing, rehabilitation, reconciliation, and reparation of all victims of banditry. A good and honest judiciary that protects people’s rights. Money and time, well-spent on these, will surely kill the disease and heal the nation of this delinquency, crimes, and bad governance. Oh Allah! on Your Mercy we depend.

KanyiDaily recalls that Sheikh Ahmad Gumi had claimed that Fulani herdsmen involved in banditry are peaceful people who were victims of circumstance.