Zamfara Bandits I Met Not Responsible For Schoolgirls Abduction – Says Gumi

Zamfara Bandits I Met Not Responsible For Schoolgirls Abduction – Says Gumi

Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has said abductors of the Zamfara schoolgirls were not the bandits he recently engaged with in Zamfara forests.

Glamtush had reported that gunmen suspected to be bandits had stormed Government Secondary School Jangebe in Talata Mafara Local Government Area around 1 am Friday and abducted over 300 female students.

Zamfara Commissioner of Security and Home Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Dauran, confirmed the abduction to the News Agency of Nigeria but could not confirm the number of the students abducted.

Gumi, in a short telephone interview with The Nation, said the abduction was carried out by a splinter group of the Zamfara bandits.

The Islamic scholar, who appeared to have reached out to the bandit leaders he recently met, stated categorically “They are not the ones that abducted the girls. It is a splinter group.”

When asked whether he would be going to Zamfara to meet the bandits for talks and plea for the release of the schoolgirls, Sheikh Gumi simply said, “maybe.”

The Islamic scholar has taken his peace message to bandits hideouts in Zamfara where about 500 were reported to have repented in Shinkafi local government area.

The renowned Islamic scholar and his delegation also met with bandits at Sububu forest and Pakai forests.