Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has asked Federal Government to give bandits and herdsmen amnesty as the Niger Delta militants were given amnesty by the late President Umar Yar’Adua when a commission was set up for their rehabilitation.
Speaking during an interview with Arise TV on Wednesday, the cleric called for a blanket amnesty for bandits and herdsmen.
Gumi, who has access to bandits, stated that herdsmen’s crimes are less severe compared with those of the Indigenous People of Biafra.
According to Gumi, one “is killing our gallant men” while the other is “kidnapping children to make money and not to kill them.
“IPOB is attacking the police, the army, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other government institutions; killing our men in service,” he said.
Asked what the herdsmen really wanted as compared to militants, Gumi explained that government should rehabilitate, train, and give them contracts to protect forests and farmlands just as the militants were given pipeline protection contracts by past administrations.
He said, “If you remember how the militants were blowing up pipelines which had a serious economic implication for Nigeria, it is the same way the herdsmen taking up forests is causing economic problems for the country.
“People can’t go to farms, and this is also an economic issue. But if the government can also give them amnesty and employ them to guard and protect the forests, I am sure they will lay down their arms.
“We can make them guard the schools and I can assure you they will no longer kidnap students because they have told me they are ready to negotiate with the government.
“The herdsmen are not killing those they are kidnapping. They are only looking for money. They are ready to cooperate with the government because all they are looking for is money.
“If the government can treat them like they did to the militants, they will not kidnap again. We can also use the good ones to fight against the bad ones.”