My brother was not kidnapped by bandits ― Sheikh Gumi

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has denied an online media report which said his brother was kidnapped describing the news as fake.

According to a statement issued by his Media Consultant, Tukur Mamu, and made available to the Nigerian Tribune in Kaduna on Sunday, the cleric described the news as mischievous and misleading.

He noted that while is not impossible in today’s Nigeria to even kidnap him or even those in authority, but he urged the public to disregard the fake news.

The statement opined that the story by some sections of the media was deliberately misquoting the cleric in order to give a picture “that the brother of the person supporting the bandits has also been kidnapped” is mischievous, misleading and diversionary.

“It is actually from the content of an interview recently granted to some members of the press where Sheikh Gumi was saying he is surprised that some elements think he is unnecessarily supportive of the bandits.

“In the said interview, he told them that he is equally a victim of their (bandits) terror as they have kidnapped his own biological brother about three years ago and that the security agents could not do anything which left them with the option of paying ransom before he was released.”

Also, the statement, he disclosed that “a driver of his father was also killed by the same bandits. For Gumi, all this is not enough reason to say he will not seek for peaceful resolution of the crisis for the purpose of preserving peoples lives and properties especially if we look back at the government’s failure to address issues that will help in bringing a lasting solution.

“Military power alone or declaring the bandits as terrorists cannot end banditry and killings in Nigeria.

“May Allah forbid, in today’s Nigeria where the government has failed to address the root cause of the armed Fulani banditry and the security imbroglio, particularly in the North West and to explore mediation like the Americans, finally adopted after over two decades of a failed military offensive in Afghanistan, people or the press should not be surprised if Gumi himself is abducted not to talk of his brother.

“But the said story as we mentioned is not true and we pray it will never happen not only to Gumi’s brother but innocent Nigerians as a whole.”

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