A revered Islamic cleric, Sheik Ahmad Gumi, has advised the Federal Government to support splinter groups among bandits as a way to end mass abductions of school pupils.
Gumi, who spoke with newsmen in a telephone conversation on Wednesday on the abduction of 200 Islamiyya schoolchildren in the Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, said many bandits were ready for a dialogue, adding that government could use them to fight the “ugly ones.”
According to him, if the government can empower a splinter group since every man wants power and money, they will do the job. He stated that there are many ready to submit themselves.
He concluded that all the bandits he has been meeting in the bush are ready to work with the government to capture other bandits that are not ready to surrender.
