CONTROVERSIAL Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has criticised Nigeria’s intelligence-gathering, describing 90 per cent of the country’s intelligence as ‘garbage.’
Gumi, a Kaduna-based figure and former captain in the Nigerian Army, known for his direct negotiations with bandits and his calls for dialogue with terrorists, made this remark in an interview published by the Punch Newspaper on Sunday 6.
He addressed the rising insecurity in Nigeria and the ‘ineffective’ strategies deployed by the government.
In his assessment, Gumi emphasised that poor intelligence was a critical factor behind Nigeria’s failure to curb banditry and terrorism, particularly in the northern region.
He attributed this intelligence failure to the lack of a nuanced approach to addressing the root causes of insecurity, such as social neglect and economic deprivation.
According to the cleric, the persistent reliance on military action against guerrilla fighters, like bandits and Boko Haram insurgents, is a flawed strategy.
“The military is a fire engine. It is a fire-for-fire approach. These people they are fighting are guerrillas.
While drawing comparisons with other conflicts around the world, including the struggle faced by Israeli forces in Gaza, Gumi said using the military to fight a guerrilla war was like punishing the military.
He added that the military was not designed for fighting bandits or terrorists.
“The military is not designed to fight guerrillas. It is just like using a hammer to kill flies. One will destroy the house. The design of the military is not for this job,” he said.
According to him, the Nigerian government needs to empower the police, enhance intelligence gathering, and empower the people.
He stressed that addressing the socio-economic grievances of these groups would yield better results than militarisation.
Gumi argued that the Nigerian government had ignored more effective approaches to solving the insecurity crisis.
“Today, 90 per cent of our intelligence is garbage. What we have left is just about 10 per cent. That is why we have coups because intelligence does not have a way to identify these people.
“They also killed their leaders because no intelligence picked them up. Can we wait until we get a government that understands, then, we can make plans to intervene and see if it can calm nerves to achieve peace. No, as individuals, we have to do our best. Then I can advise the government on what we have seen,” he added.
Gumi also revealed that his negotiations with bandits were never carried out in isolation but were supported by government officials and the police.
“I have never been to any den of these people without officials of the government. I go with the police because one cannot go alone,” he said, countering suggestions that he could be used as bait to apprehend the bandits.
The cleric further dismissed allegations that politicians were sponsoring bandits or insurgents to wreak havoc in the country, stating that the violence was a natural reaction of neglected communities.
“No politician is sponsoring these people. We are all victims. The opposition is not even behind this. This is a natural reaction of people neglected for centuries.
“Now they are exposed to the world and they want education. These people are exposed to the internet and see how much they are deprived. They want to fight back. This act is not orchestrated by anybody.
Gumi also explained that the terrorists had become angrier in the past months because the government chose to kill rather than dialogue with them.
“At the moment, they have started shouting ‘Allahu Akbar,’ and that is what we are fearing. Now they are committing the same crimes of killing, raping, and slaughtering.
“When we went there, they were not shouting ‘Allahu Akbar.’ Now, they are aggrieved, and they think it is a revengeful fight. They must have been engaged by religious fanatics. This is what we feared.”
The ICIR reports how Zamfara state governor Dauda Lawal had called for the minister of state for defence, Bello Matawalle’s resignation over accusations of sponsoring banditry and money laundering during his time as governor.
The governor claimed that the Government House in Gusau, the state capital, was allegedly involved in the ransom payment for the children of a permanent secretary who was abducted.
Matawalle has however, denied the allegations, calling the governor and other politicians in the state to swear by the Holy Quran if they know nothing about banditry that has made the state insecure in the past years.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M