DSS Invites Ex-Kogi Commissioner Over Sheikh Gumi

The Department of State Service (DSS) has reportedly invited a former commissioner for education in Kogi State, Oluwayomi David Atte.

It was gathered that the secret police invited him over his recent comment on the visit of Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, to Okun land.

Atte, who disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, said the DSS asked him to show up at its office in Lokoja, the Kogi state capital, on Tuesday.

He stated that he was informing the public on the invitation because the DSS has a record.of hounding those with views that oppose the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

Speaking further, the ex-commissioner wondered why the DSS has failed to invite Sheikh Gumi, who has been holding meetings with armed bandits and foreign Fulanis.

While advising the DSS to deal with issues raised and tackle the insecurity in Okun land, the former commissioner claimed that foreign Fulani People have taken over several communities in the state, displacing and killing several indigenes.

“I have been invited to the DSS State office in Lokoja slated for Tuesday, 7th December 2021 at 10 am,” Atte statement read.

“The DSS has not formally accused or charged me for anything. The issue of my statements about Gumi’s visit to Okunland and our insistence that we need to rise and defend ourselves came from the grapevine.

“I made the decision to inform Okun people and relevant stakeholders of the invitation by the DSS as a precautionary measure. The nation is not as it used to be, and organs of government in Nigeria tend to show more loyalty to regimes than to the Constitution and the People.

“They have shown over and over that the survival of a regime is paramount to them, hence, the lives and welfare of citizens of Nigeria have become secondary. So anybody, perceived to even just think differently from the powers they serve, can be wasted or destroyed in the line of duty of security forces. Fresh in my memory is the hounding of my personal friend, the late Obadiah Mailafia, by security agents, soon after which he died.

“Could this happen to me? Possibly, but not necessarily. With Nigeria’s security agencies, one can no longer be sure. So I decided to let stakeholders know, just to be aware that they asked me to come.

“Since I have not been charged or accused, please let us keep calm and hear what they say. It has to concern what Okun People say about their safety and welfare, which I echo.

“Okun People have lived peacefully with Fulanis for generations. In the last six years, an influx of foreign Fulani into Okunland has taken place with disastrous consequences for our People. We watched with bated breath as they swept through Adamawa, Taraba, Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, leaving behind a trail of bloodshed, massacres, destruction of farms, properties and communities. It is in public view that no concerted effort to stop them was made by the government.

“Then they came into Kogi and Southern Nigeria causing unprecedented insecurity. In Okun land, many areas have been occupied illegally by foreign Fulani, (foreign to us and Nigeria. We encountered them in Okun land and they confessed to coming from Mali in one instance). They have settled on our land, without our permission. From there they kill our people, machete them on their farms, destroy their crops, kidnap them and make us pay a ransom.

“Our land is unsafe to move about. Chief Osadumo is dead, kidnapped from a church. Hon. Serebe was shot dead by Fulanis on the farm, a vigilante officer was shot and killed near Okedayo. Our Commissioner Omofaiye was shot and Fulanis kidnapped people in Ikoyi last week. The last three regained freedom three days ago after ransom was paid for them.

“Last Thursday, Elder Ologun was shot dead in Mopa. Widows and farmers have been driven from the farms in Okun land by Fulanis. These are just a few samples. Our very peaceful life in Okun land has been disrupted. On top of all these, Sheikh Gumi came on a solidarity visit to the Fulani people in Okun land who are illegal occupiers of our land. He did not visit our key traditional rulers. Who can do that in the North? It was a slap on our face and a declaration that they can do what they want on our land.

“Now the numerous statements of Gumi about bandits, his clear sentiments of support for bandits, visiting them in their secret camps and taking photographs with them, heavily armed, are all in the public domain for Nigerians to see. And the government gives him free rein. Which community in Nigeria hears that Gumi is coming to visit Fulani (or bandits?) in their area that will not be alarmed?”