Kidnapping Of School Kids Better Than Raiding Villages, Killing People – Sheikh Gumi

A popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has said that the kidnapping of school children by bandits is a lesser evil than killing. 

The scholar who has been visiting bandits in the forest in an attempt to negotiate a peace deal with them disclosed this while featuring on BBC Pidgin. 

Gumi said abducting schoolchildren was a lesser evil when compared to the ransacking of towns and killing of its residents.

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 bandits was to go into a town, ransack it and kill people. By this, I can say our preaching is working and hopefully, we are coming to an end of banditry in Zamfara and other states.

“Bandits are more careful about lives now and just want to do sensational attacks which would bring attention to themselves.”

His statement comes days after 300 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in Zamfara state were abducted.