* Negotiations fruitful, Gumi claims
The Federal government has declared that it will not negotiate with bandits and terrorists.
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd), made the declaration during the weekly ministerial briefing at the State House in Abuja.
Rather, he said, the government would deploy all the necessary forces to eliminate criminals.
According to him, negotiating with criminals would suggest weakness and incapacity on the part of the government.
He said the government would not succumb to blackmail and the use of criminals by proxies to harass innocent citizens.
“While the government is not averse to talking, it would apply the necessary force because you can’t trust these people.
“Government wants to use military assets to eliminate them but if along the line, the come out, good. It paints the picture of weakness, incapacity,” Monguno said.
Meanwhile, Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has stated that his dialogues with bandits in the North have been fruitful.
He said: “My interaction with bandits has yielded instant results. When you are dealing with somebody engrossed in criminality, if you approach him as a policeman, you will have a problem but if you come to him as a pastor, he will confess all his sins to you.
“So we approach them as clergy, and they feel comfortable to vomit all their problems. Hence, we see how we can appease and help them.
“We are not approaching them as an authority but from the spiritual angle. You know every human being has that spiritual influence, and that is why we are adopting that,” he said.
He also tackled those urging government to arrest him because of the meetings he holds with bandits.
Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has stated that his dialogues with bandits in the north have been fruitful.
He said: “My interaction with bandits has yielded instant results. When you are dealing with somebody engrossed in criminality, if you approach him as a policeman, you will have a problem but if you come to him as a pastor, he will confess all his sins to you.
“So we approach them as clergy, and they feel comfortable to vomit all their problems. Hence, we see how we can appease and help them.
“We are not approaching them as an authority but from the spiritual angle. You know every human being has that spiritual influence, and that is why we are adopting that,” he said.
He also tackled those urging government to arrest him because of the meetings he holds with bandits.