Ahmad Gumi, a prominent Islamic cleric, says herdsmen learnt how to kidnap from the Niger Delta militants.
He said if the government were to hold talks with the herdsmen, they will assist in flushing out the criminals among them.
The cleric has been advocating amnesty for bandits. He said the bandits are themselves victims of cattle rustling who took to crime to defend themselves.
Speaking when he featured on Africa Independent Television (AIT) on Tuesday, Gumi said that only about 10 per cent of Fulani herdsmen are criminals. He said that the bandits had learnt crimes like kidnapping from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). Therefore, he reasoned that if the militants could obtain amnesty, then the same should be applicable to the bandits.
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He said if the federal government grants them amnesty, the other 90 per cent of the herdsmen will reveal the identity of the criminals among them.
“We didn’t take a different route of trying to solve this problem and that is why we are still here today. And when we say amnesty, we don’t mean that anyone proved to be involved in murder should go free as such,” Gumi said.
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“They learnt kidnapping from MEND. I do not see any difference. They were the first victims of rustling. Their cattle is their oil. What we are seeing now is more of an insurgency than banditry. I can say 10 per cent of the herders are criminals, not 90 per cent, in the end, they took up weapons to protect themselves from extinction.
“They themselves can take care of the little remnants of criminals among themselves because they don’t want anybody to bring mayhem to them.”
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