Allow Gumi engage  in dialogue bandits, NEF urges Tinubu

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has urged President Bola Tinubu to approve Sheikh Ahmad Gumi’s request to engage in dialogue with the bandits who abducted about 287 schoolchildren from Kuriga Government Secondary and LEA Primary Schools in the Chikun local government area of Kaduna state.

NEF believes Gumi’s dialogue efforts could secure the pupils’ release and prevent future abductions

The northern elders group advocates for supporting Gumi’s dialogue as a strategic move to protect innocent lives and resolve the crisis in Kaduna.

The group said that the Kaduna-based Muslim cleric may be able to secure the release of the pupils and prevent future abduction, The Punch reported.

Insecurity in Northern Nigeria, specifically in Kaduna and Borno states, has recently escalated with multiple incidents of abductions.

Within 24 hours, insurgents kidnapped 200 internally displaced women in Borno and 287 pupils and teachers from schools in Kaduna.

Gumi has also advised the president against repeating the error made by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who declined to engage in dialogue with the bandits.

The federal government has, however, said it would not pay “a dime” as a ransom for the release of school children, promising that they would be “brought back to safety”.