NATIONAL: Change your strategy, use persuasion not force, Gumi tells Northern governors, FG

RENOWNED Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has urged the Federal Government to change tact in its approach to tackling insurgency in the country.

Gumi advised the government to use persuasion instead of brute force or deployment of instruments of power to decimate insurgency in the North.

The cleric said the huge financial resources spent in the fight against insurgency in the North could have been used to address the needs of armed Fulani.

Speaking during his ongoing five-day visit to bandits’ and Fulani settlements in Zamfara State, the cleric said: “Such billions would be more than enough if judiciously used to address all the demands of the armed Fulani, including providing them with basic amenities, training them and providing them with the needed capital.”

The Islamic scholar noted that the bandits have genuine grievances which ought to be addressed by the Northern governors and the Federal Government.

He said most of the Fulani had lost all their possessions as a result of cattle rustling and instances of extortion by some corrupt security agents.

Gumi, who toured the forest near Daki Takwas, called on the Fulanis to lay down their arms and avoid bloodshed assuring  them that Governor Bello Matawalle was sincerely committed and would address their grievances.

Gumi also promised that he would do everything within his might to convey their concerns and demands to President Buhari.

Speaking further, he stated that he would be in constant touch with the Zamfara State Government to ensure that there was no breach of the agreement from either side