Igboho And Kanu Capitalizing On ‘Fulani Debacle’ To Call For Nigeria’s Break Up – Gumi

Controversial Islamic cleric, Sheik Ahmad Gumi has blamed two prominent separatist leaders for allegedly capitalizing on the Fulani debacle in the south to call for the break up of Nigeria.

Gumi in one of the series of videos posted on his Facebook page on Thursday said Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igbhoho and the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu have both played on the Fulani herdsmen clashes with farmers in the south to fuel their claims on the need for Nigeria to break up.

He initially made the submission at a recent online forum he participated in with the theme: “Islam and the Special Role of Religious Leaders in Peacemaking in the Banditry Crisis in Northwest Nigeria.”

He said the two separatist leaders were only whipping up sentiments to draw sympathizers for their own school of thought.

Particularly, he accused Igboho of going out of his way to evict Fulani herdsmen from the southern part of Nigeria based on trumped-up accusations of killing and kidnapping locals.

In his words,  “And another thing I noticed in the South is that there is a disparity between the level of education and know-how. And when you have such disparity, conflict can never end because people can hardly understand each other.

“So the Fulani debacle in the Southern Nigeria, it is capitalised by the secessionist movements of Kanu and Igboho as one of the causes of the agitation for separation. Evidentially, the crisis is another fallout of this same crisis. It’s just a smoke screen: how many Fulani people have kidnapped people that will warrant secession? How many Fulani were massacred and killed in these states that will warrant secession?” Gumi questioned rhetorically.

Recently, the cleric had stirred another controversy with his recent submission that labelling bandits as terrorists will compound a simple problem.

The cleric, who is popular for his defensive position when it comes to the issue of bandits, said bandits can’t be compared to established terrorists such as Boko Haram and ISWAP.

He described bandits as naive criminals who are only looking for a means of survival.