Popular Islamic cleric in the north, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi has revealed that bandits operating in the forests of northern states are planning to acquire anti-aircraft missiles to repel attacks by Nigerian troops. 

Bandits have recently been terrorising the northern part of the country, killing, destroying properties and kidnapping people in the region.

Gumi, who recently went into forests in Zamfara State to discuss with the bandits, said his interaction with them showed that they engage in kidnapping and collection of ransom to raise money to buy weapons.

In his interview with Punch, the cleric said the bandits told him that they took to crimes to revenge the killing of their families by cattle rustlers and the military through airstrikes.

Following his meeting with the bandits, Gumi called on government to grant amnesty to them so they could drop their weapons. 

Describing the bandits as victims of cattle rustling, Gumi advised government to meet with them and address their demands before they become religiously radicalised and uncontrollable like the Boko Haram insurgents.

He said, “These people were the first victims of cattle rustling, who lost all their cattle to rustlers because then, the rustlers were having the guns. Then when they lost their cattle, they joined (the rustlers) and they started to kidnap people.

“In fact, most of the kidnappings, they (the bandits) are doing it to acquire weapons. They are now trying to buy missiles, anti-aircraft missiles. This is already developing into a full-blown insurgency and we should stop that. And what we are afraid of is that if they become religiously radicalised, it will give rise to another dimension, and it will be very difficult to control. You see what Boko Haram has become.”

The cleric, however, ruled out the possibility that the bandits were being sponsored by politicians or have foreign collaborators, saying the bandits’ sophisticated weapons were acquired with proceeds of kidnapping and not given to them by politicians or foreign collaborators.