Kaduna-based Islamic cleric Ahmad Gumi has sparked fresh controversy after arguing that the abduction of schoolchildren, though reprehensible, is a “lesser evil” than killing soldiers.
Speaking in a BBC interview published on Tuesday, Gumi insisted that both kidnapping and murder are condemnable acts but should not be placed on the same moral scale.
“Saying that kidnapping children is a lesser evil than killing your soldiers — definitely it is lesser. Killing is worse than kidnapping, but they are all evil. Not all evils are of the same power,”
he said.
The cleric, who has long been criticised for engaging with armed bandit groups, clarified that his comments were based on a moral hierarchy and should not be interpreted as justifying criminality.
‘Everybody Negotiates with Outlaws’
Gumi also challenged the widely echoed position that governments must not negotiate with terrorists, calling it impractical and inconsistent with global behaviour.
“That phrase, ‘we don’t negotiate with terror,’ I don’t know where they got it from. It’s not in the Bible. It’s not in the Quran… Everybody is negotiating with outlaws, non-state actors,”
he insisted.
According to him, negotiations are often necessary when they serve national security interests or help curb bloodshed.
Defends Engagement with Bandits
Responding to accusations that his outreach to bandit groups legitimises their activities, Gumi dismissed critics as uninformed.
He said his visits to bandit camps were conducted openly and typically with the involvement of government officials and journalists.
Gumi added that his last direct interaction with bandits occurred in 2021 during a mediation effort. While some state governments welcomed his involvement, he said the federal government “wasn’t keen.”
Calls for Combined Military and Political Solutions
The cleric maintained that Nigeria’s banditry crisis cannot be solved through force alone, despite acknowledging the need for a stronger military presence.
“We need a robust army… but even the military is saying our role in this civil unrest is 95 percent kinetic. The rest is the government, the politics, and the locals,”
he said.
Gumi described many armed groups as largely Fulani herders engaged in what he called an “existential war” over cattle, inheritance, and livelihood.
