FG should reach out to bandits through religious leaders ― Don

The Federal Government has been called upon to reach out to bandits through religious leaders as part of efforts to tackle the current unholy alliance between the bandits and members of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).

The call was made by Professor Usman Yusuf in his thesis tilted, “The Unholy Alliance Between Bandits and ISWAP is a national security nightmare” issued to newsmen in Kaduna on Thursday.

Yusuf who is a Professor of Haematology-Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation said that “the nation went to bed on Monday 28th March 2022 shocked and saddened by the tragic attack by terrorists on the Abuja-Kaduna train that resulted in senseless loss of many innocent lives and kidnappings of many some of whom I know personally.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives, we also pray for the speedy recovery of the many still missing. I call on the state and federal governments not to relent until everyone is safely reunited with their families.”

He, however, said the moment he heard the news of the attack and how it was carried out, he strongly suspected that it was the handiwork of ISWAP and not the ragtag bandits that “we met in our visit into the forests of eight states in Northern Nigeria with Sheikh Dr Ahmed Gumi.

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“I clearly remember two years ago, Sheikh Gumi would tell me with a sense of urgency that we must reach out to these bandits and preach to them to repent and drop their arms before Boko Haram-ISWAP get to them with their twisted ideology.

“Indeed, Abubakar Shekau, the dead Boko Haram leader released a video condemning Sheikh Gumi’s entry into the forests because he knew it would be a threat to their efforts of reaching out and recruiting these bandits.

“Any strategic alliance between bandits and ISWAP will give ISWAP the geographic reach it has coveted for years. An alliance with bandits; a fearless, drug fueled, battle tested ‘army’ that knows the vast terrain of Nigeria’s ungoverned spaces will undoubtedly be a formidable force of evil that will be an existential threat to the nation.”

According to him, ISWAP has a history of blowing up infrastructural facilities like they have done in Borno State, saying “majority of Nigerians are not aware because it has not been well reported but, Maiduguri the capital city of Borno State has been in darkness without electricity since January 2021, a period of 14 months. This is because BH-ISWAP insurgents blew up transmission lines into the city twice.”