BY: News Peddlers
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| Sheikh Ahmad Gumi |
Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, an Islamic scholar, blasted the Department of State Services (DSS) yesterday for what he called the persecution of Malam Tukur Mamu, one of his associates.
He claimed that the DSS operatives who carried out the raids were no different from bandits who also break into people's homes with guns without following the law. He described the nighttime raid on Mamu's home and office in Kaduna as unlawful.
The DSS prompted Mamu's arrest in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday, and he was immediately deported to Nigeria.
The group later claimed that security forces carried out lawful searches of Mamu's home and workplace accordance to search warrants, where they seized incriminating evidence including military accoutrements, significant sums of money in various currencies and denominations, and financial transaction documents.
Gumi, however, initially interpreted the development as persecution akin to the trials experienced by former Head of State General Murtala Muhammad and late Sardauna of Sokoto Sir Ahmadu Bello.
Mamu is Gumi's spokesperson and acts as a representative for bandits and their victims in the North West. His most recent intervention involved securing the release of some of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack victims from the gunmen's hideout.
In a sermon he gave in Kaduna on Thursday night, Gumi claimed Mamu was innocent of the charges brought against him by the DSS and claimed the only wrongdoing on his part was assisting the hostage families in negotiating the release of their loved ones.
His stament partly reads: “This our brother that is being tested by Allah, there is no cause for alarm by Allah’s grace. We should see his travail as a test from Allah. Sometimes Allah tests you so that he can uplift you or lessen your sins. So, what happened to him is nothing to worry about. After all, he is used to it.
“You see, Sardauna passed through similar persecution to the extent that he was locked up, but Allah brought him out and he even became a great leader.
“After Sardauna became a leader, do you know why he was killed? The day he was killed, security operatives came to our house and picked Malam (Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi) and took him to Nzeogwu, who was then the head of security intelligence. When Nzeogwu saw him, the first thing he asked was, where did you people keep the weapons?
Malam expected to hear why Sardauna was killed, but instead he was asked a pointless question about where they kept the weapons. Nzeogwu claimed they had information that Sardauna and Malam were traveling to Arab nations and gathering weapons for a Usman Danfodiyo-style Jihad. To kill him, they simply moved and did so.
Nzeogwu and hundreds of other people were killed as a result of Sardauna's murder. Did Nzeogwu make any gains? Sardauna, however, perished as a martyr.
"That is how Murtala arrived and was put to death. Do you know the motive for Murtala's death? He was allegedly attempting to Islamize Nigeria. No one in our leadership will visit without being the subject of unjustified suspicion and security conspiracy.
“So, this sermon is directed at the security agencies to stop persecuting innocent people under the guise of security report; they should wait and carry out their investigations diligently and gather enough evidence to charge an accused person to court as demanded by the law, within 24 hours and allow the Judge to pronounce the person guilty or otherwise.
“But, if you persecute someone, you will not go far. They should leave persecution. Nzeogwu that persecuted and killed Sardauna did not succeed. If you persecute, you should know that you yourself is not safe from persecution.
"IBB escaped such persecution and killing because he entered OIC, even Abacha died of same,” Gumi said.
On how he and Mamu got involved in negotiating with bandits, Gumi said: “We discovered that people were being killed recklessly in this country, and instead of us to also fold our arms and enter our houses, we decided to go into the bush and see what exactly was the problem, so that we could have peace.
“But everyone came up with their own interpretations; they said we were supporting the bandits. But, was it when we started meeting the bandits that banditry started? We had gathered them, and they were ready for dialogue.
“Even of recent, journalist have also started having interviews with them and they are saying they are only revenging killings of their people. To them (bandits), they have not committed any crime, they are only revenging killing of their kinsmen.
“So, what is the solution? Let’s go and dialogue. But those in government said no, they are criminals. But, you that are calling them criminals, are you not criminals?
“There is nobody in government today that you will open his file, that you will not find a crime. But instead of people to own up to their crimes, they would be looking for scapegoats, they would be looking for people to implicate.
“I can almost swear to God that what is happening to our brother (Mamu) is what gave birth to banditry; a situation where security operatives would go to their (Fulani) communities and cheat them, kill their wives and children. That was why they said, is it not guns? We too should acquire guns.
“This gentleman (Mamu) is only helping; he is helping and people are being rescued.
“It was the bandits who appointed Mamu as negotiator because they saw that he is fearless in his news publication. But the question of whether Mamu is making mistakes in his duties as negotiator, it is impossible for him not to make mistakes. But you ought to look at the overwhelming success of his intervention.
“But to try to link him with a terrorists group in Egypt…. Imagine this type of lie. Is it with lies that you will achieve success?"
(THE NATION)