Don’t act like Buhari, negotiate with bandits, Gumi tells Tinubu

Kaduna-based Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, on Tuesday, sought government’s permission to approach and have talks with bandits who abducted about 287 schoolchildren from Kuriga Government Secondary and LEA Primary Schools in the Chikun Local Government Area of the state.

The Islamic cleric insisted that dialogue was the way to go, calling on President Bola Tinubu to take a different approach from his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, who rejected the dialogue.

The PUNCH reports that bandits invaded the Kuriga area of the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, shooting at their victims before taking away at least 280 of the pupils and teachers from both schools.

The incident occurred barely 24 hours after insurgents abducted 200 internally displaced women in Borno State.

The women were kidnapped in Ngala, the headquarters of Gambarou Ngala in Borno State, while fetching firewood in the bush.

Penultimate Thursday, bandits invaded the Gonin-Gora in the same Chikun LGA, prompting residents to barricade the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway in protest against the abduction of an unspecified number of people in the area.

Meanwhile, the government of the affected state has refused to dialogue with the bandits to release the schoolchildren and has also refuted claims that it had hired a private negotiator to facilitate the release of the victims. Click here  to continue reading on Punch