No fewer than 500 bandits have agreed to lay down their arms after a peace deal that was struck by a Kaduna – based Islamic cleric, Dr. Ahmad Gumi.
Gumi has since January commenced a peace mission to bandits’ dangerous enclaves to carry out a Da’awa (preaching) campaign in Soba, Birnin Gwari and Giwas local government areas of Kaduna state.
Many Fulani families reportedly gathered to listen to Gumi’s sermon.
Reports revealed that Gumi’s carrot approach and confidence building has the backing of the federal government and the police.
During his interactions with the bandits, reports said that all the top armed commanders spoke freely and lamented about the condition they were subjected to and expressed the frustrations that led them into kidnapping and banditry. They lamented that many of them had lost virtually all their possessions through cattle rustling, extortion by security agents and through military bombardments.
