A dedicated Islamic Scholar, Ahmad Gumi, an Islamic scholar, said that security personnel are aware of bandit hideouts.
According to Gumi, the security personnel who accompanied him during the talks were aware of the bandits’ hiding places in the nation’s north.
The cleric said, “I don’t think they (security agents) are truthful with you,” in an interview with Nigeria Info FM regarding security officials’ ignorance of bandits’ hiding places. I don’t go alone; I travel with them wherever I go.
Regarding the identities of the bandits, Gumi stated that the majority of them are herdsmen, most of whom are Nigerians with a small number of foreigners.
The cleric also stressed the need for dialogue with those responsible for the recent kidnapping of about 287 pupils from LEA Primary School and Kuriga Government Secondary School in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
Hinting to possible prisoner exchanges, he suggested that negotiations could result in the safe repatriation of the prisoners without necessarily including financial transactions.
Gumi depicted the bandits as disenfranchised individuals who lack access to fundamental social amenities such as water, infrastructure, and education.