Sheikh Ahmed Gumi says the Federal Government should forgive bandits who are ready to lay down their arms and embrace peace like it forgive coup plotters and those that instigated the Nigeria civil war in 1966.
The cleric said this on Thursday while reacting to the statement by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) over his approach.
Gumi is an advocate of dialogue to end banditry and has been visiting bandits in their enclave preaching to them to embrace peace
He said: “I see no reason why we can not accept their (bandits) repentance and give them amnesty. You ask why do we give them amnesty but they told us specifically that they are ready to drop their arms and they don’t want to be pursued with legal actions after they repented.
“If the country could pardon coup plotters who committed treasonable offences in the era of military administration, the bandits can as well enjoy similar forgiveness even better under democratic rule.”
The Islamic scholar said he was misunderstood by CAN because the video that went viral about his discussion with the bandits was distorted and the actual message was manipulated.
