The Man Behind The Mask

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi was born in Kano state on October 1, 1960, the eldest son of the late Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi.  He came from a genealo...

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi was born in Kano state on October 1, 1960, the eldest son of the late Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi. He came from a genealogy of Islamic scholars, with his father being the first Grand Khadi of the old Northern region. This position made him a central authority in interpreting the Shari'a legal system in the region. His father was instrumental in reviving Islam in Northern Nigeria, particularly under Sir Ahmadu Bello. 

 

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi is a retired major in the Nigerian Army, having served between 2010 and 2015.

Currently, he is the muffin and mufassir (scholar and writer) at the Sultan Bello mosque in Kaduna

He is the Nigerian cleric who negotiates with the bandits for the Fulani federal government of Nigeria. Beverly Ochieng and Jewel Kiriungi (BBC Monitoring), on May 8 2021, described Sheikh Ahmad Gumi as a prominent Muslim cleric acting as a self-appointed middleman who has emerged as a divisive figure in the kidnap for ransom crisis plaguing northern Nigeria, which has seen more than 800 students seized in recent months. 

 

"This man behind the mask", Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, is a grand terrorist and the commander of the terrorist groups ravaging northern Nigeria. His unchecked utterances are clear evidence of this fact. For instance, during the campaign for the immediate past election in Nigeria, this Muslim cleric said the North would not vote for any president that would kill the bandits because the bandits are their soldiers in the bush. In another statement, he said that any attack on the bandits is an attack on the North; what does this imply to you? This same man, on March 9, 2021, said that the Nigerian Army is divided along religious lines and thus accused non-Muslim Nigerian soldiers of being responsible for insecurities in the North simply because the Nigerian Army waged a successful attack against the bandits.

 

This terrorist negotiator and Igbophobic Islamic scholar and cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has recently recommended to the federal government of Nigeria to arm Igbo youths to fight against the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), an unarmed, non-violent and peaceful group agitating for their self-determination. This Gumi played a significant role in aiding and abetting terrorism during President Buhari's administration. He facilitated the settlement of bandits for the Nigerian government, but he wants peaceful IPOB members to be killed.

 

Have you analyzed the opinions of Sheikh Ahmad Gumi about the bandits who have abducted thousands of civilians, including school children and other students, some of whom were killed in the process? In defence of these terrorists, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi said, "Kidnapping is a lesser evil. If the country could pardon coup plotters who committed treasonable offences in the era of military administration, the bandits can as well enjoy similar forgiveness even better under the democratic rule". Again, he said, "Kidnapping children from school is a lesser evil because, in the end, you can negotiate, and now bandits are very careful about human lives. Before, the mission of the bandits was to go into town, ransack and kill people". How do you censure this kind of individual? 

 

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi is now suggesting Igbo youths kill IPOB family members. The cleric who negotiates with his people who are bandits, defends, trivializes and excuses their criminal activities, and now wants Igbos to start killing themselves. He has undertaken several visits to his terrorist camps in Zamfara state, Katsina and Niger States urging the bandits to continue carrying out attacks in different ways but claiming he visits to dissuade them from their militancy. His mediatory role has stirred controversy for advocating talks and blanket amnesty for the criminal groups who are responsible for the wave of Kidnapping ravaging the North and Nigeria as a whole. 

 

The recommendation of Sheikh Ahmad Gumi to arm Igbo youths to conquer the Indigenous People of a whole nation has unveiled the man behind the mask of birth of unknown gunmen syndrome and Fulani herders massacring farmers, which culminated in insecurities in the southeast of Nigeria. It further exposed Sheikh Ahmad Gumi as the man behind the mask of the Owerri prison break in 2021, where notorious criminals were armed to release convicted criminal inmates, which aggravated to different degrees of criminal activities in Southeastern Nigeria. 

 

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi's actions and utterances constitute a serious threat to national security; hence, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi should be arrested and prosecuted for gross insecurities and banditry in the North, civil unrest and all criminal activities destroying the southeast instead of Kidnapping, arresting and killing innocent IPOB agitators and Biafrans who are peacefully agitating for the freedom of their nation.

 

Free Mazi Nnamdi Kanu now.

Let Biafra go.

 

Written By: Fafa Maintain

 

Edited By: Nkechi Onuoha

 

For Abia State Media