‘You’re A Bootlicker’ — Gumi Slams Femi Adesina For Calling Him ‘Bandit-Lover’

Nigerian Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has hit back at President Muhammadu Buhari’s senior media adviser, Femi Adesina, after the latter called him a ‘bandit-lover’ who allegedly discourages the military from onslaughts against bandits in the North.

Gumi, who has been at the forefront of negotiations with bandits who kidnap schoolchildren for ransom, had recently called on the federal government to grant amnesty to bandits, warning that military action was not the best solution to their activities.

But Adesina, in a Facebook post on Thursday, accused Gumi of dampening the spirits of Nigerian troops carrying out offensive against bandits in the northern region.

“A bandit-lover is on record as saying military offensive would not work, and that the bandits “are going nowhere,” Adesina, who didn’t mention Gumi’s name directly, had said.

Gumi, however, responded to the presidential aide in a fourteen-paragraph article titled “War Has Never Been A Solution Anywhere Anytime” which he posted on his Facebook page on Friday.

“You bootlicker that called me a bandit-lover! I am not one, but my country-lover, my region-lover, my state-lover, and my people-lover, and humanity-lover,” Gumi said, while also not mentioning Adesina’s name.

The controversial Islamic cleric maintained that the ongoing military onslaughts against armed bandits in Zamfara and other states in northwest Nigeria was condemnable.

While denying allegations that he has sympathy for bandits, Gumi said “I am a qualified Medical Doctor who knows what it takes to precisely excise a brain tumour without destroying the delicate surrounding brain tissues. I was a commissioned military officer who knows what the military is for and what is the capability of our military. I am an intellectual with a Ph.D. from Abroad. I am an Islamic scholar who knows the immorality of killing innocent lives. So, silence for me in this ocean of oblivion is not an option.

“Only a fool would allow his dwelling to be a theatre of war. Unfortunately, how many fools are there. Killing rats in your rat-infested sitting room with an iron rod will only end up destroying your gadgets and furniture probably without killing any. We should not mask out poor governance with artillery power.”

The cleric further claimed that only residents of adjoining areas being bombarded by the military were at the receiving end of the onslaughts, as the bandits have already escaped.

“By the way, what you may not hear, is that the bandits over the years have developed escape routes from aerial bombardments. They told us: you can only kill our women and children with your attacks!

“Just yesterday, two contingents of banditry victims came to me that their loved ones were abducted by bandits in Kaduna suburbs – Rigachukun and Keke. An escapee engineer in the later said, when he overheard and understood that they were strangers in the area as they were calling the locals to lead them, that gave him the courage to slip through densely grown maize plantations to escape. The point is that, if Zamfara is on fire for them, definitely it goes without saying that they will migrate to other areas. So, is the whole of Nigeria going to be under lock-up in incommunicado?

“As for the economic impact of the areas now under siege, it’s just a matter of time, you’ll hear them crying out. Already yesterday a man from Tsafe came begging because of economic stagnation, one would have thought that Gusau the capital is closer than Kaduna to beg.

“As for those cynics that have no value to add in the dilemma except vituperation, and abuses, we know that is the substance they are made up of. No qualms whatsoever! you don’t expect fragrance from feces.

“So, what is the solution? Good Intelligence! Good proficient policing, engagement of the local herdsmen in policing, rehabilitation, reconciliation, and reparation of all victims of banditry. The good honest judiciary that protects people’s rights. Money and time well spent on these will surely kill the disease and heal the nation of this delinquency, crimes, and bad governance,” he wrote.