Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has insisted that negotiating with bandits remains an effective approach, arguing that military force has failed to end insurgency in Nigeria.
Gumi noted that dialogue was successfully adopted in resolving militancy in the Niger Delta and should not be abandoned by the government.
Writing on his Facebook page, the controversial cleric said war has not delivered results, pointing out that the military has been battling Boko Haram for 16 years and bandits for more than a decade without an end in sight.
According to him, “They say negotiations don’t work. It’s a lie. It worked with militants in the Niger Delta creeks. Rather, it’s war that doesn’t work, 16 years we’re still fighting BH and 11 years fighting bandits. It’s stupidity doing the same thing and expecting different results.”
Gumi warned that cycles of violence are sustained by mutual hatred and retaliation.
“The vicious cycle of violence erupts when they hate and you hate; they demonise and you demonise; they go violent and you go violent,” he wrote.
He urged Nigerians and the government to embrace conflict resolution rooted in dialogue, compromise, and moral rejection of violence.
“To break it, we all have to learn conflict resolution based on negotiation and compromise — an approach based on intellectual, faith-based, and moral rejection of violence.”