By Ismail Auwal
Kaduna-based Islamic Scholar and terrorist negotiator, Sheik Ahmad Abubakar Gumi on Friday claimed that the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) who raided the residence of Tukur Mamu were not different from bandits who also break into people’s homes with guns without recourse to the law.
“Going to his (Mamu) house in the middle of the night to break into it in a draconian way, shows you are not different from bandits. Bandits too come at night, so where is the difference?, he queried.
“Bandits don’t follow the law, if you too break into someone’s house without following the law, how are you different? Bandits have guns, you too carry guns. So if both of you don’t follow the laws, you have become bandits, ” he said.
In a video posted on his Facebook wall followed by SAHELIAN TIMES, the cleric claimed that the arrest of his associate Malam Tukur Mamu was persecution akin to the ordeal of the late Sardauna of Sokoto Sir Ahmadu Bello and former Head of State, General Murtala Muhammed.
He said, “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?
He narrated that his father, late Sheik Gumi was expecting to hear the reason Sardauna was killed, but he was confronted with a meaningless question, that where did they keep the weapons?
According to him Nzeogwu then said they had received intelligence report that Sardauna and Malam were touring Arab countries and gathering weapons they would use to execute Usman Danfodiyo type of Jihad. So, they just moved and killed him.
He also claimed that the killing of Sardauna led to the killing of Nzeogwu himself and hundreds of others.
Gumi noted that Murtala was also killed in the same manner, ” Do you know why Murtala was killed? They said he was trying to Islamize Nigeria. There is no leader of ours that will come and not suffer unfounded suspicion and security conspiracy.”
Gumi said, Mamu was innocent of the allegations against him by the DSS, adding that his only offence was helping the families of the hostages to negotiate the release of their loved ones.
“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 terrorist group in Egypt…. Imagine this type of lie. Is it with lies that you will achieve success?”
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.”
“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.
The cleric claimed that what happened to 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.”
He also faulted journalists for tainting the image of his associate and also for reporting “lies” against them
He alleged that Mamu had fought with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) severally.
“Also, because Mamu’s name is tied to me, they will just tag us bad names because they have seen that we are saying the truth. I am not even seeing the fault of the government in this, because even the government is a victim of security conspiracy. Even in the security, I don’t see the fault of our people. I see the fault of our enemies who killed Sardauna.”
Mamu was arrested in Cairo, Egypt on Tuesday at the prompting of the DSS, and deported to Nigeria immediately.
The organisation said subsequently that security agencies executed valid search warrants on Mamu’s residence and office during which incriminating materials, including military accoutrements and large amounts in different currencies and denominations as well as financial transaction instruments, were recovered.
Mamu serves as Gumi’s spokesman and intermediary between bandits and their victims in the North West, his latest intervention being negotiating the release of some of the victims of the March 28 Abuja-Kaduna train attack from the den of gunmen.
