Renowned Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has defended his call for a non-kinetic approach to address insecurity in Nigeria, stating that some armed groups are ready to lay down their weapons.
Gumi made this known on Tuesday, in an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, arguing that some armed groups are ready to lay down their weapons.
According to him, government should consider a non-kinetic approach instead of solely relying on military action.
“We have people who are ready to put down their arms, so why do you always decide it has to be kinetic?
“Even America could not succeed in Afghanistan, even Israel could not succeed in a small strip of land. Our army is not designed for guerrilla warfare; no army is designed for the kind of people we are facing now, no army is designed for it,” he said.
On whether individual offenders should also be reintegrated if they show remorse, Gumi drew a distinction between communal conflict and individual criminality.
“You’re saying that it’s a communal clash, it’s different from individual criminality. That’s why, after the civil war, atrocities were committed from both sides, and over two million people died, and yet the engineers were pardoned… because it’s communal.
“But if it’s an individual killing an individual now, this law will come in. But when communities are fighting, who are you going to judge? So now we’re trying to stop bleeding,” he said.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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