Yoruba elders blame Buhari for Sheikh Gumi’s rise to fame with bandits

Pan-Yoruba elders have accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration of allowing the Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi to continue to make unfounded comments that aggravate the security crisis in the country.

The group described Sheikh Gumi comments as “felonious pronouncements” in a communiqué issued at the end of their meeting on Wednesday in Mapo Hall, Ibadan, Oyo State.

The Yoruba elders warned Gumi “who hides under the guise of mediation” to refrain from sowing the seeds of insurgency nationwide and to stop making inciting and unfounded statements.

The communiqué, which was signed by Mogaji Gboyega Adejumo said, “The Yorùbá hereby make known their opposition to Sheikh Gumi’s interaction with these dreaded terrorists. A video circulating on social media that shows the Sheikh trying to divide the Nigerian Army along religious lines is an abominable wake-up call.

“The Sheikh is guilty of incitement, when he claims that it is Christian soldiers who attack bandits to sow religious tension; to encourage bandits to be selective in their reprisal attacks and avoid women and children is tantamount to aiding and abetting terrorism and sabotage.

“The Sheikh has forgotten that thousands of Christian soldiers have lost their lives battling Boko Haram and other terrorists.

“The Nigerian Military is one of the few institutions that have resisted division along religious lines. By condoning Sheikh Gumi’s felonious pronouncements, the government is allowing him to fan the embers of crisis, while hiding under the cloak of mediation.

“The Yorùbá are convinced that the North is already at war with itself. Rather than face that situation squarely, the Northern-controlled Federal Government keeps trying to divert attention by teasing out conflicts in some areas and exporting crises to other locations.

“The Yorùbá call it, “da bi mo se da”. It will not work. The Yorùbá will not swallow the bait and allow our hard-won inheritance to be consumed in the consequent conflagration.”