Sheik Gumi Provokes IPOB with Branding Bandits, Fulani Herdsmen as Freedom Fighters 

Nnamdi-Kanu

The glorification of the bloodletting activities of bandits and Fulani herdsmen by a prominent Islamic scholar, Sheik Gumi, has drawn the ire of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Gumi said the activities of the rampaging bandits and Fulani herdsmen are similar to those of freedom fighters agitating for the Republic of Biafra in Eastern Nigeria, and Oduduwa Republic in Western Nigeria.

This seeming shocking branding by Sheik Gumi is not going down well with the Biafra agitating group, IPOB. Spokesman of the pro-Biafra group, Emma Powerful, says Gumi’s comparison is unacceptable and provocative.

Gumi has been mounting serious campaigns for amnesty for murderous bandits and has also been meeting with the notorious bandits in their forested hideouts in Zamfara State.

Reports of Gumi meeting with bandits last weekend dazed some Nigerians. It seems to be getting out of hand as the Islamic cleric is now branding Igbo and Yoruba youths  demanding security, equity, restructuring and true federalism as ‘’secessionists’’ who are no better than Boko Haram.

IPOB says it is shocking that Gumi in his interview with BBC pidgin grouped the agitating Igbo and Yoruba youths with the Boko Haram while bandits, to him, were “insurgents” with “genuine concerns and grievances.”

According to reports, Gumi told BBC Pidgin that people protesting marginalization, are miscreants who “are all the same group of people with Boko Haram.” He was quoted to have said that “Yoruba leaders and Igbo leaders should take care of their miscreants as we are handling herdsmen and Boko Haram which are miscreants in the North.

For IPOB Publicity Secretary, such a statement has simply unmasked and exposed the real identify of Gumi as one of the hardened supporters of Fulani terrorism. “With such ignorance laden utterance from a supposed Islamic scholar, the world does not need to look far for the real sponsors of banditry and terrorism in Nigeria.

“We now know those behind the killing spree and evil agenda to decimate indigenous ethnic populations and non-Muslim communities across Nigeria.

“Before now Nigerians were deceived into believing that bandits and other agents of terror on rampage all over Nigeria were invisible and without a fixed address.

“How come this pretender and self-acclaimed Islamic cleric knew where to find the bandits? He even posed for a picture with gun wielding murderers and was very proud of it. How was it that this man managed to locate the hideout of these mass murderers but Nigeria Airforce cannot?

“How come there hasn’t been any invasion or bombing of any these Bandit Settlements in the North but the same Nigeria Airforce were quick to deploy fighter jets to terrorise innocent citizens in Orlu?

‘’It is a national embarrassment that Sheik Gumi wined and dined with their bandits, and has also suddenly become their advocate and going to the extent of comparing blood sucking bandits with self-determination activists.

“In his warped mind, Sheik Gumi can no longer differentiate between self determination which is a constitutionally guaranteed right and terrorism which is a crime.

“This hypocrisy has confirmed our earlier position that terrorism and banditry in Nigeria are common agenda of the caliphate. ISWAP, bandits and Fulani herdsmen are one and the same people whose common aim is to decimate the indigenous populations in Nigeria and ultimately fulanise the country.

“Sheikh Gumi should remove that dirty rag he is fond of wearing on his head to allow fresh air cool his brain. Perhaps then he can reason like a human being.

“It’s an insult to freedom fighters all over the world to be compared with blood-sucking demons in human clothing like Fulani herdsmen. If we may ask Gumi, going by his lame argument, is Nicola Sturgeon the leader of Scotland a terrorist or bandit?

“Are the bandits he was drinking Burukutu with in the forests of Zamfara peace ambassadors? We want to let Gumi and his fellow Fulani Boko Haram and bandits understand that Biafrans will never allow Fulani to take any inch of Biafraland under the guise of one Nigeria fake unity.

“Gumi is a terrorist calling peaceful agitators terrorists. He has just revealed his true identity. Now the world knows those to be held responsible for the daily bloodbath in Nigeria. Gumi is not just an apologist for terrorism in Nigeria but a certified bandit in his own right and must know that a miscreant is better than a murderous bandit any day any time.

“He should also know that those holding meetings with killers and advocating integration of bandits and other terrorist groups into an imaginary amnesty program are nothing but their sponsors.

“Other ethnic groups and nationalities may fall or capitulate before the hegemonic might of the Fulani caliphate in Nigeria but not those of us from the East”, IPOB says.

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