Banditry: DSS invites Sheikh Gumi over comments implicating security operatives

The Department of State Security Service (DSS) on Thursday invited Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi for questioning, VOA reports.

According to the VOA report, Gumi was invited by the DSS after he alleged that security officials work with bandits to carry out criminal activities.

Gumi made the allegation when he appeared in ARISE TV on Wednesday.

The Nigerian Army however rejected the claims of the Kaduna-based cleric, saying that security agents have sacrificed their lives in the battle against insurgency.

“It is essential to remind ourselves that this same military, being accused of connivance, are the ones who recently put their lives on the line to rescue abductees of the Government Secondary School, Birnin Yauri from kidnappers,” the army explained in a statement.

The statement added, “While the NA will not attempt to excuse the possibility of black sheep amongst its fold, it must be stated unambiguously that it will not condone any form of sabotage or aiding and assisting the enemy by any personnel.

In the wake of kidnappings, murder and other terrorism acts of bandits operating predominantly in the northern region of the country, Mr Gumi has become popular for advocating peace deals with terrorist herders

He has at different times chaired negotiations between the herders and their victims. And recently, he likened the herders to the Niger Delta militants, saying that the herders should be granted amnesty as the militants enjoyed.