BBC Report: Gumi Opposes Kadaria, Slams Buhari, Lai Mohammed Over Threat Of Sanctions

Islamic scholar, Ahmad Gumi, has slammed the Nigerian Government over its threat to sanction the BBC following the broadcaster’s investigative report which provided insights into the activities of bandits/terrorists in the country’s northern region.

THE WHISTLER reported that Nigeria’s Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, accused the British broadcaster and Daily Trust of glorifying terrorism and banditry over their coverage of the insecurity in the North.

Mohammed threatened that “When otherwise reputable platforms like BBC give their platform to terrorists, showing their faces as if they’re Nollywood stars…I want to assure them that they won’t get away with it, the appropriate sanctions will be meted.”

Kadaria Ahmed, the managing director of Radio Now 95.3FM Lagos who started her career at the BBC in London, had also written an opinion piece bashing the broadcaster for “propagating terror”.

But Gumi, in a statement on Friday, faulted the government’s plan to sanction the BBC and Daily Trust, while commending local and international media organizations for appropriately capturing the magnitude of security challenges in the northern region in their reportage.

He accused President Buhari of rewarding failure when he gave ambassadorial appointments to the country’s former service chiefs who according to him failed to address the security challenges.

“FG’s attempt in trying to find a scapegoat to justify its glaring failure after wasting over $16 billion in the last seven years without any commensurate result on security and efforts to blackmail certain media organisations for their patriotism in reporting the crisis is unfortunate and should be resisted by all responsible media organisations,” he said.

“What is happening in Nigeria today, especially in the North West as clearly captured by the BBC, is more of an ethnic war and reprisal killings and attacks due to the government’s failure to address well-documented instances of injustices that were initially done to the Fulanis.

“What do you expect from a society (Fulani) that was left in total ignorance and lack of education, especially when their primary means of livelihood (cattle) has been completely rustled by other criminal elements within and outside our security agencies without any effort by the government to address the injustice.

“As I talk to you now, cattle rustling has not stopped. Many law-abiding Fulanis have fallen victims to the official extortion of their cows. I have well-documented evidence involving some security agents in which I personally intervened. How do you expect as a government to address insecurity, especially related to Fulani bandits without addressing such instances of extortion and rustling?”

“When a Commander-in-Chief rewards failure with ambassadorial appointments in a system and a society that records increased attacks, when security agencies cannot even protect Abuja and especially when the Guards Brigade cannot even protect themselves not to talk of the President, then why blame the media for such failure and ineptitude for reporting it?” the Islamic cleric quizzed.