By Gabriel Atumeyi
365Daily – Popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, on Wednesday said bandits terrorising the country are not as deadly as the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Speaking on Arise TV on June 23, 2021, Gumi called for “fairness” in the comparison between the two groups, saying one “is killing our gallant men” while the other is “kidnapping children to make money and not to kill them.”
He stated: “IPOB is attacking the Police, the Army, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other government institutions; killing our men in service.
“And the herdsmen are kidnapping children not to kill them but to get money; so how can you compare somebody who is killing our gallant men directly to somebody who is kidnapping children to make money and not to kill them. Look, we need some fairness in what we are doing.”
The cleric, who is known to have access to bandits, said herdsmen’s crimes weigh significantly lesser than those of IPOB.
Bandits have so far kidnapped over 800 school children across the north since December 2020, with some student murdered in the process.
Notable is the case of Greenfield University students who were abducted from their in Kaduna and killed to pressurise their parents to pay the ransom demanded by the bandits.
In the Southeast, since IPOB launched its militia arm called Eastern Security Network (ESN) a few months ago, attacks on security operatives and government infrastructure have surged notably in Imo, Ebonyi, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Delta States.
The group have killed many security officials, burnt their facilities and released prison inmates in a prison break in Imo State.
It has also targeted INEC offices, grazing them down in acts of arson.