Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has questioned why the Federal Government has not adopted dialogue with Boko Haram insurgents and armed bandits, similar to the approach previously used to resolve militancy in the Niger Delta.
Drivetvnews gathered In a Facebook post on Saturday, Gumi recalled how former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo personally visited Niger Delta militants in the creeks and later introduced peace initiatives that significantly reduced violence in the region.
According to the cleric, both leaders engaged directly with militant groups and developed programmes that encouraged disarmament, rehabilitation and reintegration.
Gumi wondered why a similar strategy has not been extended to insurgents and bandits operating in northern Nigeria.
“The former President Jonathan visited Delta militants in the creeks, so also the former Vice President Osinbajo. They all came up with a programme to tame the militants. Who is going to visit Boko Haram and bandits to tame them without fools castigating them?” he wrote.
The outspoken cleric has consistently advocated negotiations with armed groups in the North-West and North-East, arguing that military action alone cannot permanently resolve the insecurity affecting the region.
Over the years, Gumi has visited bandit camps in states such as Zamfara, saying his engagements were aimed at understanding the grievances of the groups and encouraging peaceful resolutions. His efforts have attracted mixed reactions, with critics accusing him of legitimising criminal groups, while supporters credit his interventions with helping secure the release of kidnapped victims.
Gumi has repeatedly rejected allegations of supporting terrorism, insisting that his position is solely focused on ending violence through dialogue and rehabilitation.
Nigeria’s Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, introduced in 2009 under the administration of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and sustained by former President Jonathan, encouraged thousands of militants to surrender their weapons in exchange for vocational training, monthly stipends and reintegration support. The initiative was credited with reducing attacks on oil facilities and restoring relative peace in the region.
Jonathan had earlier met with former militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, in the Niger Delta while serving as vice president, a move he later described as laying the foundation for the amnesty programme.
Similarly, Osinbajo visited several Niger Delta communities in 2017 as acting president, where he met with militants, community leaders and other stakeholders, maintaining that dialogue with aggrieved citizens was necessary for lasting peace.
