Former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode on Wednesday described Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi as worse than leaders of terrorist organisations Abubakar Shekau and Abu Musab al-Barnawi.
Mr Fani-Kayode stated this in an Instagram post in reaction to Gumi’s opposition to calls for bandits ravaging the north to be declared terrorists.
Al-Barnawi was leader of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). In mid-October, chief of defence staff General Lucky Irabor said Al-Barnawi had been killed. Shekau, on the other hand, was killed in May by ISWAP forces in a battle of supremacy.
Commenting on Gumi, Fani-Kayode wrote, “Sheik Ahmad Gumi, the Rasputin of Arewa, whose father once said a Christian must not rule Nigeria & who himself said the FG must not declare the killer bandits as terrorists is worse than Abubakar Shekau & Al Barnawi. He is a venomous snake & a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Many have called for Gumi to be arrested and prosecuted for being sympathetic to the cause of bandits.
The Islamic cleric had in the past called on the Federal Government to give the bandits amnesty, adding that many of them took up arms because of poverty.
