By Ayo Kehinde
Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has stirred nationwide outrage after describing the recent abduction of schoolchildren in Niger State as a “lesser evil” compared to the killing of soldiers.
Speaking in a BBC interview on Tuesday, Gumi admitted that kidnapping children is “evil,” but argued it is not as grave as murder — particularly when abducted students are eventually released unharmed.
“Saying that kidnapping children is a lesser evil than killing your soldiers, definitely is lesser. Killing is worse… but they are all evil. It’s just a lesser evil. Not all evils are of the same power,” he said.
He referenced previous mass abductions in Kebbi State where victims were freed without fatalities.
His comments come in the wake of the abduction of more than 315 people in Niger State, including 303 students and 12 teachers.
The Federal Government on Sunday confirmed the release of 100 students, while about 50 others had earlier escaped.
When asked what message he had for parents of the abducted children, Gumi replied: “It’s an evil, and we pray that they escape.”
Defending his long-standing advocacy for dialogue with bandits, Gumi insisted that negotiation remains a necessary tool for reducing violence and saving lives.
“Everybody negotiates with bandits… If negotiation will bring stoppage to bloodshed, we will do it,” he said.
He added that his previous engagements with bandit leaders were conducted openly and in the presence of authorities.
He disclosed that his last direct meeting with bandit groups was in 2021, during efforts to unify various factions, but said the Federal Government was not receptive to the initiative.
After the groups were designated as terrorists, he said, he ceased contact.
On Nigeria’s broader security challenges, the former army captain argued that the military cannot single-handedly resolve the crisis.
“We need a robust army… but even the military is saying our role in this civil unrest, in this criminality, is 95 percent kinetic. The rest is the government, the politics, and the locals. The military cannot do everything,” he said.
Gumi also clarified that the majority of bandits are rural Fulani herdsmen, not urban Fulani, noting that their motives are often tied to survival and cattle ownership.
“They are fighting an existential war… Their life revolves around cattle. In fact, they inherit them. They’ll tell you, ‘This cow I inherited from my grandfather,’” he added.
