Dialogue, education only option to end banditry – Sheikh Gumi
To end banditry in the North, government at all levels must engage in dialogue and provide proper education and enlightenment for those engaged in the act, Sheikh Ahmad Mahmoud Gumi, has said.
He said this on Thursday while briefing the Governor of Zamfara state, Bello Matawalle at Government House, Gusau, on the outcome of his dialogue with some bandits in Zamfara forest.
Gumi had earlier visited strongholds of bandits in Kaduna state, appealing to them to accept peace.
He said: “In most of the bandits and Fulani camps we have visited in Zamfara, I come to understand that what is happening in the state is nothing but an insurgency.
“Some people are of the view that the bandits should be fought and killed, but what we understand is that the majority of them are illiterates who need proper education and enlightenment,” he said.
Gumi said most of the bandits he came across are violent because of persistent attacks and harassment from a vigilante group.
